Washington. u 




♦ 



I 



r 



Florida Fruits 



AND 



How TO Raise Them 



BY HELEN HARCOURT, i 

(Of Leesburg, Sumter County, Florida.) 



JACKSONVILLE. FLA.: 
Ashmead Brothers, Publishers, Booksellers, Stationers, Printers and Binders. 
1884. 



nti so '''m I 
INTRODUCTORY. 

In laying the present work before the public, the writer has 
carefully gathered together all the available " odds and ends " 
of the varied experiences and experiments of the older and more 
intelligent fruit growers of Florida, in addition to considerable 
personal observation and experience, and in so doing trusts to 
fill a gap in the practical literature of the " American Italy." 
Books there are, small and incomplete, on orange culture, but 
none that treat in a full work-a-day manner of the other varied 
" Florida Fruits, and How to Eaise them." 

This important gap the writer has -sought to fill in such a 
plain, simple manner, that the veriest novice may make a success 
of fruit growing in his Florida home, while the concluding chap- 
ter will teach him how to use such of those fruits as are not 
usually familiar to the Northerner. 

Many of the Florida fruits have not been touched upon, as 
being purely tropical, and confined to a comparatively small 
portion of the State. Among these the cocoa-nut palm is the most 
important, and is destined to become a source of great profit in 
the regions of Key Largo, Key West, and the extreme southern 
coast of Florida. 



CONTENTS: 

Chapter 1. — Orange Culture — Kise and Progress in Florida 5 

Chapter 2.— What Has Been and May Be 13 

Chapter 3. — From Seed to Grove 21 

Chapter 4.— How to Bud and Graft 30 

Chapter 5. — Where to Plant 43 

Chapter 6. — Budded Trees or Seedlings 52 

Chapter 7. — How to Plant 58 

Chapter 8. — How to Cultivate 64 

C!hapter 9. — Mulching and Pruning 69 

Chapter 10. — How to Fertilize 75 

Chapter 11. — Enemies, and How to Fight Them 84 

Chapter 12. — Gathering and Packing 94 

Chapter 13. — About Varieties 100 

Chapter 14. — Miscellaneous 106 

Chapter 15. — Lemon Culture 113 

Chapter 16.— Other Citrus Fruits 120 

Chapter 17. — Pine-apples 125 

Chapter 18. — Guavas and Bananas 133 

Chapter 19. — Grapes 142 

Chapter 20. — Chinese Sand Pear 150 

Chapter 21. — Figs 157 

Chapter 22.— Peaches, Plums 162 

Chapter 23. — Japanese Persimmons 167 

Chapter 24. — How to Use Florida Fruits 171 

Chapter 25. — Evaporating Fruits 184 



OR AN GE CULTURE. 



CHAPTEE 1. 

ITS EISE AXD PEOGKESS IX FLORIDA. 



*T HKOUGHOUT the length and breadth of the Horti- 
cultural ^vorld, there is at this moment, and -svill be for 
years to come, no one tree or fruit, possessing so all-absorb- 
ing an interest as the far famed, luscious orange. And good 
reason there is for this pre-eminence of the "golden apple," as we 
shall presently see — its fame is not built upon a sandy foundation, 
but upon a gold-bearing rock, and as such it shall stand forever - 
more. 

An orange grove is at all times intrinsically beautiful, Avhether 
laden down wdth its yellow fruit glistening amidst the dark green 
foliage, or standing clothed in the glossy glory of the latter alone, 
or dotted all over with its starry white blossoms, and filling the 
balmy air with their sweet breath. 

Most truly, "a thing of beauty and a joy forever," is an orange 
grove to its happy possessor, and in using the word "forever" we 
do so advisably, for no one who owns a grove at the present day, 
will live to see its decay, or the failure of one jot or title of its 
usefulness, rather the contrary. 

We remember reading a rather sarcastic story of some young 
girls, who to settle a disputed jDoint, applied to a maiden lady of 
eighty years old, with the question : 

"How old must a woman be before she gives up all hope of 
getting married ? " 

The old lady (so the story runs) shook her head, and made 
reply — 

"Girls, you must ask some one older than I am." So with 
the orange tree. 5 



6 



GRANGE CULTUEE, 



At Cordova, that far-famed seat of ancient Moorish splendor 
and luxury, there are still remaining a number of monster orange 
trees, known to be seven hundred years old ; their trunks are 
j)artly hollow, their bark cracked and rugged, and yet each year 
these doughty old giants yield up their seven and ten thousands 
of large, luscious golden balls, as though yet in the hey-day of 
their youth ; and who knows ? perhaps they are I Certainly, as 
yet they show no intention of dying of old age, nor of retiring on 
half 23ay, nor of shirking the active business of their lives, and 
doubtless, if one versed in their native tongue were to say to them — 

'*How old must an orange tree be before it ceases to bear ? " 
they vrould shake their great, bushy heads and reply. 

'•You must ask older trees than we are ! " 

Even in England, at Hampton Court, where the tree is raised 
only as a curiosity, and is carefully sheltered under glass, there 
are several, the register of whose birth bears date of over three 
hundred years ago. 

So you see it is no rash assertion, this of ours, that no orange 
grove o^\Tier Avill live to see his trees cease to yield him an income 
and a good one too, if he but treats them with moderate kindness, 
unless, indeed, some extraordinary extraneous cause supervenes 
to destroy them, such as fire or flood, which may be reckoned as 
among the impossibilities. 

Before referring in detail to the mode of culture pursued in 
Florida, in raising this justly celebrated fruit, a brief glance at its 
origin may not be amiss. 

An earnest naturalist, Galessio, was the first to trace its his- 
tory with any degree of authenticity, and the result of his careful 
researches he published to the world, in his *' Traile' du Citriis,'' 
issued in Paris, in the year 1811. 

According to this author, the Ai'abs, penetrating further into 
the interior of India than any foreign nation had done before, 
discovered the orano^e familv flourishinp: there and held in hieh 
esteem by the natives. 

From this point the Arabs conveyed the sweet, now called 
China oranges, into Persia and Syria, and the bitter orange, now 
called the Seville, found its way into Arabia, Egypt, the north of 



ITS ELSE AND PROGRESS IN FLORIDA. 



7 



Africa, and Spain ; from these points the orange traveled into 
other countries, notably China, and in this latter empire it so 
flourished and spread, far and wide, that by and by it came to be 
a fiction believed in by Euroj^eans, that the orange was indige- 
nous to China. 

Galessio shows, however, that the so-called '"'China orange " 
is by no means a spontaneous production of that country, and his 
statement is further corroborated by the absence of all mention 
of this fruit, in the exceedingly minute and circumstantial account 
given by the father of modern travelers, Marco Polo, of the 
productions of China. 

The orange was not known to the ancients, either in Europe 
or Syria, and the palm of its introduction to the world must be 
accorded to the Arabians, whose anxiety for extension of medical 
and agricultural knowledge, was almost equal to their zeal for the 
propagation of the Koran. 

The sweet orange which they carried to Spain spread thence 
into Portugal, Sicily, St. Michael and the Mediterranean islands, 
and the West Indies. 

In each and all of these various places has the difterence in 
climate and soil produced varieties and changes in the character- 
istics of the original common stock, so that in these days, the Sicily , 
St. Michael, Maltese, Havana, and a great number of others are 
well known and established varieties of this noble fruit. To sup- 
pose, as many do, that the orange is a spontaneous production of 
the soil of ihe Xew AYorld, is to make a great mistake ; only 
where the early Spanish or Portuguese landed and penetrated 
into the country, is the wild orange of America to be found. 

On the banks of the Eio Cedeno, in the midst of a great forest, 
Humboldt, to his amazement, came upon a broad belt of wild 
orange trees, laden with large, sweet and most delicious fruit. 
''Surely, these must then be indigenous to the soil !''' he thought ; 
but subsequent inquiry led to the discovery that those grand old 
trees had once formed a portion of extensive groves planted by 
the Indians from seeds obtained from their early Spanish visitors 
and conquerors. And to this same source does Florida owe her 
beautiful wild groves ; only here, whether by the accident of soil 



8 



ORANGE CUI.TUKE, 



or seed, the wild fruit is sour, not sweet. 

Ponce de Leon and his successors, but most all of the unfor- 
tunate French colony, barbarously massacred by cruel Menen- 
dez, "not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans," were directly instru- 
mental in introducing into the " Land of Flowers " the noble fruit 
that is rapidly becoming the chief source of wealth and happiness 
to its adopted home. Briefly, the orange is not a native but a 
naturalized citizeu of the United States. 

Looking back only a few yeai's, from our present point of 
enlightenment, as to the inestimable value of this once neglected 
tree, it is very hard to understand how it is that the native 
Floridian did not long ago wake uj) to the realization of the 
wealth within his grasp, of the golden apple lying neglected at his 
feet. And yet there were, it is true, several causes conducing to 
perpetuate this strange blindness ; for one thing, Florida, though 
it contains within its borders the oldest city, by forty years, in the 
United States, has ever been, owing to a conjunction of circum- 
stances, one of the least known, and most sparsely settled of them 
all ; owned first by one European power, then by another, before 
finally passing into the Federal States ; torn and distracted by 
Indian wars and raids, and lying in a remote corner of the Union, 
completely out of the general line of travel, it is not to be won- 
dered at that Florida was, except to a very few, a sealed book. It 
is true that there were a few intelligent, wide-awake Southerners 
who held the orange at an approximate to its true value, but these 
men were content to set out and cultivate their trees on a compara- 
tively small scale, and they never penetrated further into the 
country than the St. John's River, and St. Augustine, where, too 
often, a severe frost would injure the tender trees, and discourage 
their owners. 

Beyond the points just mentioned, few settlers were to be 
found, and those few, were, almost to a man, of a low and igno- 
rant class ; men who were satisfied to saunter lazily through their 
days, existing on " pork and hominy, " or whatever else was "easy 
to grow^ and take care of itself, " in which category were included 
vast herds of cattle, which ever and anon, they drove to the 
nearest sea-port for shipment to the West Indies. To such as 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS IN FLORIDA. 



9 



these, the luscious sweet orange of Europe, so well known in the 
Northern States, was a boon unknown and undreamed of ; they 
knew, it is true, that, scattered over the central and southern 
portions of Florida, were wild groves of beautiful trees, bearing a 
large yellow fruit, but that fruit was exceedingly bitter and sour, 
and held by them in no esteem. 

It was not until our unhappy civil war had come to a close, 
and the ancient regime was broken up, that a new people began to 
press beyond the borders of Florida, bringing in their midst the 
commencement of a new era in its hitherto stagnant civilization. 

Even then it was sometime before the attention of these new 
comers w^as drawn to the capabilities of the wild sour orange 
groves scattered all around them in the rich hammock lands, and 
the first bold pioneer who ventured to experiment upon their true 
value, met, as is usual in such cases, with no encouragement from 
his neighbors, but rather determinated opposition and ridicule. 

A case, in illustration, was related to the writer recently by a 
neighbor, a lady who is now^ the proud owner of several fine 
bearing groves : Fourteen years ago she removed with her family 
from the Northern part of the State down into the "Great Lake 
Eegiou, " and "Orange Centre;" building a home in the piney 
woods for the sake of health. The want of shade w^as at once 
apparent; to supply this desideratum, ^QYQY2i\ large sour orange 
trees were transplanted from a wild grove near by. They flour- 
ished exceedingly well, but their fruit was allowed to rot upon the 
ground, uncared for. One day there came a stranger, who argued 
so eloquently upon the great gain to be obtained by cutting their 
tops off, and inserting buds from a sweet orange in their trunks, 
that, sorely against the will of our informant, her husband pro- 
ceeded to follow the stranger's advice. " I scolded and cried, and 
cried and scolded," she said, "but it was of no use; the tops of 
those splendid trees were sawed off, and the little green sticks the 
stranger gave us were put into the bark of the poor, bare trunks. 
In a few months-, seeinsr how fast the buds were growino*, I besran 
to think perhaps there was some truth in the stranger's words, and 
in three years, when I saw a fine crop of splendid oranges, the 
-sweetest I had ever tasted, I blessed the stranger, and thanked 



10 



ORANGE CULTURE, 



my husband for cutting off the tops. We succeeded, some time 
after, in getting a few sweet oranges from New Orleans, and 
planted the seed, and some of our neighbors did the same ; we 
also budded a few more sour stumps. But even then, none of us 
ever dreamed of making a business of raising oranges to sell. 
We knew so little of the North, and were so shut out from the 
busy world, that it has only been within the last eight or ten years 
that our people have really waked up and begun to plant out 
groves in earnest. " • 

Having thus endeavored to show why this great industry of 
the future has lain so long in abeyance in a land where all the es- 
sentials for its pursuit, even to the wild fruit itself, have existed 
ever since its earliest settlement, we will pass at once to the prac- 
tical details of orange culture. 

At the very outset the Florida orange grower labors under a 
disadvantage ; his business is a new one, and consequently, he is, 
to a considerable extent, dej^endent on a series of experiments. 
The new comer finds but a limited store-house from which to 
draw his practical information ; his neighbors have bought and 
are still buying their own experience, and he must do the same in 
a great measure, for the points in orange culture on which all 
growers agree, are very few. How can it be otherwise, with an 
industry w'hich is only in its infancy ? 

The oldest orange trees in Florida are but babies, a.s it were, . 
and comparatively few, out of the thousands of groves set out, 
have even as yet, reached the age of maturity ; it will be many 
years still, before orange culture will have reached the perfection 
of a science, as has the culture of the older orchard fruits of the 
North. 

We are apt, at a distance, to associate poetry and romance 
with the very name of an orange grove, but when one sets to work 
in earnest to " make " one for himself, the cold, stern facts, that 
ever beset the business life of man, come to the surface, and he 
learns that some money, more time and labor, muscle, patience 
and pei'severance are necessary, before his embryo grove becomes 
self-sustaining. 

It is not play to plant and conduct an orange grove from- 



ITS KISE AND PROGRESS IN FLORIDA. 



11 



infancy to bearing and paying maturity, and it is because tiie 
idea that it is all play, all " fun " to " make a grove, " has been so 
prevalent, that there have been so many disappointments, so 
many discontents returning to the North, with the report that 
" orange groves are humbugs. " 

The more thoroughly the in-coming settler realizes that or- 
ange or other fruit growing is a regular business, requiring, like 
other business pursuits, the investment of more or less capital, 
and a good deal of care, time, judgment and perseverance, the 
more thoroughly he realizes this, we say — the better prepared he 
will be to meet and conquer the various vicissitudes and draw- 
backs that are sure to occur during the long years of work and 
waiting that must be encountered before he can sit down, at last 
for the rest of his life, in the enjoyment of a good and steadily 
increasing income. 

Far be it from our wish to discourage the would-be orange 
grower, rather would we urge him who seeks health and compe- 
tence ; aye, more wealth, to come to Florida, and make unto him- 
self a " Fortunata's purse " of the golden orange, but we would 
have him come realizing that here as elsewhere, the great law of 
nature which decrees that nothing that is worth the having, can 
be obtained without toil and patience, is in full operation. 

So many have come to Florida, full of enthusiasm, full of 
the idea that it was only necessary to stick the trees in the ground, 
anywhere and anyhow, and then sit Avith their hands in their 
pockets, as it were, for a year or two, in order to reap a full 
grown fortune, that we feel it our bounden duty to give full 
warning that though an orange grove is a glorious thing to own^ 
and will give its possessor competence and w^ealth, yet, still it is 
not to be obtained without time, labor and patience, or their 
equivalent in money. 

The latter, when the settler is fortunate enough to be able to 
purchase a grove ready made. 

And right here is another point to wdiich we would call at- 
tention. 

We often hear complaints of the " high prices " asked for 
bearing groves, now, these so-called high prices are as a rule, very 



12 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



low prices in reality, when one stops to consider the years of toil 
and care and perseverance that have gone to " make" eachgroycj 
through all the time of their slow growth, not only so, but what 
of the actual money yalue of said groye ? 

Why does the would-be purchaser want to buy ? 

Because he expects a good income from his groye ? Exactly 
so, and now we will ask one more question. 

If he went to an office where annuities are sold, would he 
expect to purchase an annuity, annually increasing in amount, for 
a mere nothing? Scarcely ! 

Yet tliat is just what these men who are not willing to pay a 
fair price for an orange grove are seeking to do. 



CHAPTER 11. 



WHAT HAS BEEN AND MAY BE. 

Having pointed out the rock on which so many fair barks 
have foundered, let us now look at the other side of the picture, and 
see what has been done and may be done again by those who start 
aright, and regard orange growing not as a pleasant pastime, but 
as a serious, earnest business, to be carried out faithfully, carefully 
and intelligently, like any other business in which success is de- 
sired, and to be learned and studied as such. 

What reasonable man would expect to be successful in a 
pursuit entirely new to him, without seeking such sources of prac- 
tical knowledge thereof as might lay open before him? 

And yet there are men, who would bristle all over with in- 
dignation were it to be hinted that they do not possess common 
sense, who yet embark in a new life as orange growers, and think 
they Avill succeed, while they scorn advice, refuse to seek counsel 
of those whose experience is of many years standing, and turn 
their backs scornfully upon the books and periodicals written by 
practical men familiar to the business so new to them. 

Such self-sufficient egotists as these will fail, as orange 
growers, and either leave Florida pronouncing her noble groves 
humbugs, or else turn back to the beginning, and wisely seek 
the course they before despised. 

The man who meets with as few drawbacks as possible, and 
pushes forward his grove to its utmost capacity, is the man wdio 
is not too proud to confess that he does not know more about as- 
tronomy than the astronomer, more about geology than the geolo- 
gist, more about farming than the farmer, more about orange 
culture than the life-long orange grower. 

Therefore, ask opinions and advice from older settlers ; do not 
take all you hear for facts, nor all for fiction ; take notes and com- 
pare them ; weigh conflicting opinions and strike a balance ; look 
about you wdth a view to learning^ something useful for you to 

13 



14 



OKANGE CULTURE. 



know : do not trust entirely to hearsay ; find out all you can by 
actual trial and experiment ; study reliable books relating to your 
new business ; take one or more weekly papers devoted to the same 
cause ; be energetic, persevering, careful to do your best and 
make the most of the advantages you possess ; never use or prac- 
tice those three most reprehensible words in the English language 
•'too much trouble. " 

Do these things, and in eight or ten years from the day you 
set foot in Florida, a penniless man, perchance, you will be in com- 
fortable independence. Aye I more than independent for all your 
life to come, and your children, and grand-children after you. 

Every man who has succeeded in raising a grove, has done 
so by jDursuing just !6uch a course as we have suggested ; and na 
man will fail who is content to follow in their footsteps. 

One of our earliest pioneers in orange growing was an Eng- 
lishman, John Eaton, by name. 

He served in our army during the Seminole War, and when 
discharged at its close, in 1837, accepted the offer of the Govern- 
ment to give one hundred and sixty ( 160 ) acres of land to anr 
soldier who would settle on and cultivate a portion of it. 

AVe, in these enlightened days, know how to envy this man 
the grand opportunity, for selecting choice lands that lay before 
him, but he had not our knowledge. 

The wondrous value of the wild orange tree was a sealed 
book to him ; he was a plain working man, and at that time an 
invalid ; all he sought was a quiet i^lace in a mild climate, that 
" his days might be jDrolonged in the land " so he selected his 
homestead on the St. John's River, in Orange County ; he built 
him a little hut on a small shell-mound, where about 50 wildor- 
ange trees were growing, and there with fish and game at his 
door, and a small garden patch by his side, he dwelt alone for 
twenty years. 

Some one came along after he had been there a short time^ 
and initiated him into the mysteries of budding ; and then more 
from curiosity than with any thought of profit, he budded his fifty 
wild trees. 

He " builded better than he knew ; " in a few years these 



WHAT HAS BEEN AND MAY BE. 



15 



hitherto despised trees, brought him all, and more than all the 
cash he needed. 

When the lonely recluse died, no heir came forward to claim 
his property, so after due time the State stepped in and sold it to 
the highest bidder. 

And thus John Eaton's grove became the property of the 
Hon. AY. ^Y, Woodruff, for the sum of $3,000 

The property would have brought much more if it had not 
been that the soldier had made so very poor a selection of land, 
that only a few of the hundred and sixty acres are good for any- 
thing, and these are only a few feet above the river, so that in 
unusually high tides the grove suffers ; besides this, the only build- 
ing site is so near the river, that it is not healthy to live there, and 
so much overflowed land extends all around it, that whoever 
dwells there must be content without neighbors. 

Yet, in sj^ite of these serious drawbacks, the little place sold 
at Mr. Woodruff's death, for $9,000, triple the price, you see, 
that he paid for it. 

There are, we have said only fifty trees in this grove, but 
from those fifty trees, crops often net from $1,500 to $1,800 in a 
season. 

Who has not heard of the famous " Big Tree" of Florida? 
which oftentimes has 10,000 oranges at once ; oranges so fine that 
they have sold for $2.40 per hundred ; thus netting from this one 
tree $240 in one season I It seems incredible, does it not ? 

Yet it is strictly true, and not only so, but this tree is only 
one-fiftieth part of a grove, Avhere each individual tree seems to 
take a pride in bringing to its fortunate owner an annual offering 
of from two to five thousand oranges. 

This famous " Big Tree " stands apart from the rest, in solitary 
grandeur, and is a glorious sight, whether clad in its every day 
uniform of green, or dotted all over with its fragrant white blos- 
soms, or laden with golden fruit. 

Note the fact that it is of the same age as the rest of the 
grove, was budded with them, and has received the same treat- 
ment, but it stands alone ; we shall have more to say in this con- 
nection, by and by. 



16 



ORANGE CULTURE, 



So, now we have seen what one poor ignorant soldier did, in 
a careless hap-hazard way ; he might have done much more, had 
he known all that we know now-a-days. 

John Eaton died, but his trees lived on, and prospered, and 
their fame at last reached the ears of a relative of his, then liv- 
ing in Canada, and he came to Florida to try to claim the estate, 
but we believe he failed. 

The story he told of the events that led him here may well 
seem to " point a moral, and adorn a tale " in the wonderful 
contrast between the work of the pioneer of the North, and him 
of Florid a. 

Ten years before Eaton settled in Florida, the fither of the 
gentleman alluded to settled in the wilds of Canada. 

For thirty years he toiled, and endured hardships and pri- 
vations, and by that time had cleared and brought under cultiva- 
tion one hundred acres of land. 

But all the time he was working, the climate was working 
too; it killed three of his children with consumptiou, killed his 
wife by a combination of diseases brought on by working in the 
snoAV and mud, and finally killed him also, with inflammatory 
rheumatism. 

The one son who was left, rented the farm, won by thirty 
years of toil, for the paltry sum of one hundred and fifty dollars 
a year, aud fled to our genial State to save his life, and reflect 
at leisure over the vast contrast between the results of the thirty 
years of toil on his father's part, and the twenty years of ease, of 
his cousin, John Eaton. 

It was all in the difference of location, one settled in a cold 
inclement country, the other in a mild, genial clime, one of nature's 
garden spots. 

Of course, it is easy to go North, to any of our old settled 
States, and point out fine fertile farms, worth many thousand dol- 
lars, places that have been carved out of the wilderness, by the 
work of one generation. 

But then, what if the same amount of time, money and in- 
telligence, had been spent in Florida ? 

Why the difference would have been as startling as that be- 



WHAT HAS BEEN AND MAY BE. 



17 



tween the work of John Eaton, and his cousin in Canada. 

And now let us come down to later times, and to men who 
were not pioneer hermits, but pioneer settlers. 

We know of an island in Lake Griffin, containing three hun- 
dred acres of rich land, studded over with orange trees, once wild, 
hut now budded, and yielding luxuriant crops. 

Tv/elve years ago the first small improvements were made 
here, the land and work together costing fourteen hundred dol- 
lars ; last year the proprietors received six thousand dollars for 
their crop, and refused an offer of forty thousand dollars ($40,000) 
for the property. 

Eleven years ago a father and two sons, ruined by the war, 
purchased eighty acres, with a wild grove on it, for five hundred 
and fifty dollars. 

The trees they budded with the sweet orange ; and they took 
care of the trees as best they could ; they were so poor that they 
were compelled to use their own strong arms to cut down trees, 
with which they built a rude house to shelter them, and the little 
furniture needed was fashioned with their own hands. 

They managed to live somehow — it is easier to rub on over a 
hard road in a mild climate than in an inclement one — and took 
good care of their trees ; though they themselves might suffer for 
food, they were determined their trees should have " full and 
plenty" for they knew them to be the "geese that would lay 
golden eggs." 

And they were entirely right. 

Last year that hard-won grove brought them in nine thous- 
and dollars, and it has really just begun to bear. 

The hard working days of this trio, are over, they may take 
their ease, while a skillful man, at a good salary, look after their 
"golden gooses; " and they have merely to sort and pack the 
" eggs, " and this, by preference, as wise men who would make 
sure that the fruit is properly sweated, graded, and packed, for 
on these important points, depends the good or bad fortune of the 
crop ; what matters it if a grove yields its thousands of luscious 
fruits, if those fruits are rotted and valueless by the time they 
reach the market ? 



18 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



As we have said eleven years ago these three men were pen- 
niless, now seventy-five thousand dollars would not tempt them to 
sell their grove. 

In 1870 a gentleman whom we know, purchased a wild grove 
on Lake Harris for five hundred dollars ; now he has twenty 
acres of bearing trees, and refused to sell for fifty thousand 
dollars. 

Two years later, just ten years ago, another settler bought 
forty acres of land for less than four hundred dollars, budded 
the few trees growing wild, set out more, and now has sold land 
to the amount of two thousand dollars, and holds the balance at 
twenty-five thousand. 

Now look at these figures for a moment, and ask yourself 
what safe, reliable legitimate business could you engage in at the 
North, with a capital of five hundred dollars, aud in ten or 
eleven years have augmented that capital, to such an extent ! 

Yet, one more example and we are done. 

In 1874 a gentleman bought for S6,000 a rich hammock tract 
of five hundred and sixty acres. On this tract were four acres in a 
wild grove; six hundred large bearing trees, besides many young 
seedlings. The bearing trees he budded, leaving some as they 
stood, but moving others where they were too crowded. 

The trees thus moved were of course set back several years 
in growth, but from the four hundred that Avere left in their 
original position, when three years only from the bud, the neat 
little sum of twelve hundred dollars were obtained ; at four years 
from the bud, these same four hundred presented their fortunate 
owner with sixteen hundred dollars, and at five years one hun- 
dred of the transplanted trees having advanced into the ranks of 
the bearing ones, the crop netted seventeen hundred dollars, and 
Avould have brought one thousand more, but for a severe gale 
that blcAV ofi* a large proportion of the fruit. 

Now this is the showing of just four acres out of five hun- 
dred and sixty purchased for six thousand dollars. 

How about the rest ? 

Two hundred and sixty acres have been sold for twenty-one 
thousand dollars. Three hundred acres and the grove referred to 



WPIAT HAS BEEN AND MAY BE. 



1^ 



remain in the purchaser's hands, and on these three hundred 
acres laid out in young groves for sale, are six thousand flourish- 
ing trees budded on sour stocks raised on the place, besides two 
thousand more in the nursery. 

Sixty thousand dollars would not purchase these three hun- 
dred acres with the bearing trees and young groves they contain. 

Think for a moment ! 

Eight years ago the investment of six. thousand dollars was 
made, and to-day, eighty thousand dollars is a low estimate of its 
value. 

We could go on multiplying instances indefinitely, but these 
will suffice to show that the culture of the orange, w^hen properly 
conducted, is a good money making investment. 

Even for the man who does not need the income from his 
grove for the support of his family, there is no better investment 
for his surplus money, and it would be difficult to find a safer one. 

When an orange tree is in full bearing, it is valued at one 
hundred dollars all over the State, and this is no fictitious value 
either, for certainly a tree is worth the money which it represents. 
'Now a tree bearing one thousand oranges at one cent each, repre- 
sents an income of ten dollars, the principal of which in Florida 
at eight per cent, is one hundred and twenty-five dollars. As the 
trees become older the orange bearing also increases. 

There is no probability of the supply of oranges from Florida 
ever exceeding the demand, as the orange belt is confined within 
narrow limits, while the population of the country is rapidly in- 
creasing, and is capable of almost indefinite expansion. 

But while an orange grove is a splendid investment for a 
rich man, it has also its bright side for the poor man. 

Nine-tenths of the prosperous orange growers in Florida 
came here less than a dozen years ago, some with a few hundred 
dollars in their pockets, but more with only a few hundred cents. 
One gentleman arrived here with less than a cart load of house- 
hold goods and ten dollars of borrowed money. He patiently 
bore privation and worked for his neighbors, using his surplus 
money in improving his homestead, little by little ; now he is in 
^he enjoyment of many thousands of dollars. 



4 



20 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



There are thousands of young men in the inclement Norths 
toiling wearily along through the years in the hope of ultimately 
winning a home for some dear one who is patiently waiting for 
the happy day to come. Let these, and such as these, turn their 
faces Southward, and in less than " seven years, " amidst Florida 
fruits, they will have won independence and their Rachel. 



CHAPTER 



III. 



FROM SEED TO GROVE. 

Few amateur orange growers realize the importance of good, 
thrifty stock at the very outset, but it is a point that cannot be 
too strongly insisted on, for herein lies the corner stone of a suc- 
cessful grove. 

Given poor, diseased, stunted stock, and you may lavish time 
money, care upon it, and be worse off in five years time than when 
you began ; given good thrifty stock, and half the time, money 
and care, will find you in the same space the owner of as fine a 
young grove as one would need to possess. 

How to secure such reliable stock? 

Well there are three ways ; one to go to a neighbor who has 
preceded you by several years, and has seedlings for sale, purchase 
them and bud them yourself; another, to purchase trees ready 
budded from a reliable nursery man, and still another, which will 
best suit a shallow pocket, is to plant the seed and when the trees 
are a suitable size bud them yourself. 

There is a right and wrong way of doing everything in this 
world, and it is sometimes curious to see how frequently the wrong 
way is chosen when the right way seems just as easy, and is cer- 
tainly productive of more satisfactory results. Xow in this ap- 
parently a simple matter of planting seeds ; most persons will take 
the seeds hap-hazard from any orange they may happen upon, 
the more the better, and going out, will punch a hole in the 
ground with a finger, drop in a seed, give it a pat downwards, 
and go away exultant, and return in a week or two to dig up a 
fine healthy plant. 

Others will push the seed down into boxes and water them 
carefully every day and rot them, while others will not water 
them at all, but leave the sun to shine upon their covering of 
s©il and dry it to a powder. 

And then thev wonder and scold — these three tvpes of amus- 

'21 



22 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



ing people — because " these seeds won't come up, bad luck to 'em," 
and so it was truly "bad luck" for the seeds when they fell into 
such hands. 

But there is a right way of doing this simple thing and let 
us now see what it is. 

In the first place, there are seeds, and seeds, and by no means 
are all fit to plant because they are called "seeds." 

A seed should never be planted except from large, ripe, well 
shaped and fine flavored fruit, no matter whether your ultimate 
object be a seedling grove or only stock to bud on. 

And not every seed from these should be planted either, but 
only the plump, sleek and well-to-do looking seed, these alone 
will make thrifty growers, either for seedling or budded stock. 

Never allow you seeds to dry off before planting, if you do, 
throw them away, as they will never germinate. 

If it is not convenient to plant a few at a time as you collect 
them, either allow your choice oranges desired for seed to rot, the 
seeds remaining inside, or better still, get a small box, half fill it 
with sand, saturate the latter with water, put it in a shady place 
and mix in your seeds with your sand, being sure they are well 
covered, if you have no shade convenient, it will do to mulch 
with moss heavily or with trash. 

But mark this ; do not water the box again, or your seed 
will rot. 

Thus treated, seeds may be kept in good condition for plant- 
ing for ten days or two weeks, examine them every two or three 
days, and if they show signs of sprouting, hurry them into their 
permanent burying ground. 

We would advise every settler to have a nursery of young 
trees, even if he is able to purchase all the trees he needs for his 
grove. The trees will never come amiss, and they require but 
little care once fairly started on their life's journey. 

For raising a limited number of seedlings, say two or three 
hundred — cast off boxes — such as may be had at any country 
store, are to be preferred to the open ground. 

Even better than several small boxes, is one large one, such 
as can be made at home in a short time. Make a box ten inches 



FROM SEED TO GROVE. 23 

deep, two feet wide, and as long as your boards will allow, twelve, 
sixteen or twenty feet, a bottom is unnecessary ; nail on braces to 
keep the boards from spreading, fill the box with sand mixed 
with well rotted stable manure, or with a small portion of com- 
mercial fertilizer mixed through it ; pack it down firmly. Pour 
on water until the ground is thoroughly saturated, then with a 
pointed stick make a number of parallel grooves about one inch 
deep and about six inches apart. 

Drop your seeds three inches apart in the little trenches, thus 
drawing the soil on top and with a small piece of board press it 
down as firmly as possible. 

Now, mulch your box with grass or moss (and when we 
speak of moss, now, and hereafter, we mean the gray " Florida 
moss ") the moss is the best, as it does not pack, and while it re- 
tains moisture, allows a ray of sunshine to penetrate, now and 
then to the soil, to coax into being the little embryo which is 
buried that it may live. 

Let the sun reach the seed box during a greater part of the 
day — all day, even, would do no harm — if the mulch is heavy ; do 
not water the seeds more than once a a week, and not then unless 
the soil is dry. 

More seeds are lost by being rotted by a superabundance of 
water, than from any other cause ; the soil in which they lie perdu ; 
should be moist but not wet. 

This is true, not only of seeds of the citrus family, but of all 
seeds w'hich is the inevitable fate of those that are not. 

This mulching of seeds is not, we believe the usual practice, 
but our own experience has proved, again and again, that seeds 
thus kept uniformly moist, will germinate in one half the time 
required by the same seeds, when subjected to the usual alterna- 
tions of dry and wet, thus protected. 

But if young plants are desired by the thousands, and tens 
of thousands, then the seeds must be sowed in the open ground. 

Here too, there is a right and a wrong way ; a careless, or a 
systematic method of doing the work, and the latter always comes 
out ahead. 

In laying out the seed beds, it must be borne in mind that 



24 



ORA>'GE CULTURE. 



you will hereafter want to hoe and weed your young plants ; 
therefore leave a space two feet wide between them, the beds 
themselves being three feet in width. This will allow you to reach 
the centre from each side. 

See that the seed beds are well cleared of tmsh,. grass, sticks, 
etc... and make them level and smooth ; then make your trenches 
six inches apart, and drop your seed as in the boxes, or sow broad- 
cast if you prefer it, being careftil not to sow too thickly ; press 
the soil down firmly, then cover your beds with a mulch of pine 
straw, grass, well rotted sawdust, or moss, it matters little what is 
used so that it keeps in the moismre, and shields from the 
hot sun. 

A barrel of oranges will furnish from four to eight tliousand 
plants ; to separate the seed from the pulp, when such large quan- 
tities are to be sorted, one needs a seive with a quarter-inch 
mesh , a good stifi" brush, and an abundance of water. 

The ground should be moist when the seeds are planted, either 
by rain or jDrofuse artificial watering, and should be kept so, until 
the seed are up, which will be in from ten days to two weeks ; 
without mulching they are often four or five weeks in making an 
appearance. 

As soon as the first plants are fairly up, remove a pait of the 
mulch, so that they will meet with no resistance in pushing their 
way upward, and after a few days remove it entirely. 

Keep the seed bed watered until the plants are about three 
or four inches high, and then after a drenching rain, replace the 
mulch around the slender stems. 

It is an excellent plan to soak the mulching material in 
liquid stable manure twenty pounds to a barrel of water for a 
few hours before applying it to the nursery bed. 

Orange, or any other plants, in fact, thus raised and cared 
for, will make such a thrifty growth as will astonish their owner, 
and amply repay all the time and trouble lavished upon them. 

There is another way of protecting the young trees from the 
direct rays of the sun ; a method that is extensively practised in 
many large nurseries ; it is more trouble and expense than the 
process just described, but as it has the endorsement of practical 



FROM SEED TO GROVE. 



25 



horticulturalists, we give it for the benefit of those who may pre- 
fer it to mulching. 

Drive stakes four feet long into the ground, to the depth of 
one foot ; along the borders of the bed, six feet apart. Xail nar- 
roAv strips to the top of the stakes, or rope, or wire may be used, 
if more convenient, then stretch over the frame-work thus pre- 
pared, some thin guaze like material, coarse bagging, or the 
slazy muslin called cheese cloth, for instance. 

If the beds are more than three feet wide, it will be well to 
place stakes four and a half feet long at each end of the bed, in 
the center, with a strip running from one to the other ; this will 
raise the awning in the centre, like a double pitched roof 

Sheltered from the fierce heat of the sun, yet receiving plenty 
of light, air and moisture, the young plants will grow very rap- 
idly, but more weeding will be required than when the mulching 
is used. 

By the time the plants have attained the height of twelve or 
eighteen inches they are ready to be removed from the seed bed 
to the nursery, and further shelter maybe dispensed vrith. 

The same canopy protection may be used over the seed beds 
as well as over the plants already up. 

In raising plants of the citrus family, especially in the open 
ground, there is an active little enemy to combat against, all 
enemy whose name is legion, and who, if aliov^^ed to follow out 
their own plans, will nip oil the embryo leaves cf the plants the 
moment they appear above the ground. We refer to those very 
industrious creatures vrhora the primers hold up to us as an ex- 
ample to emulate, but it could be wished that their proverbial in- 
dustry was more tempered with judgment in consideration for 
struggling humanity. 

We mean ants of course. They evidently regard citrus 
leaves as especial dainties, and must be taught to keep their dis- 
tance. 

An application of air slacked lime, or hard wood ashes, will 
dampen their ardor, or better than anything else in our experi- 
ence, is a liberal watering of the ground, or mulch with an ap- 
plication of " Gould's Fertilizer and Insect Exterminator, " one 



26 



ORANGE CULTUEE. 



pound to two gallons of water. 

This is not only effectual in keeping all insects at a distance, 
but is an excellent fertilizer as well, thus " killing two birds with 
one stone." 

This is a homemade " fertilizer as it were, being manufact- 
ured in Jacksonville, and very easily procured. 

And now, having got our trees ready for the nursery, let us 
see what is the proper location for the latter, and how best to re- 
move the embryo gold mine to its nourishing care. 

It is an important thing to make a good selection for a nur- 
sery ; because the plants are small, is no reason why they should 
not have the best possible care, unless you want them to remain 
small indefinitely. 

Hammock land, with the roots thoroughly cleared out, and 
mellowed by frequent workings, is good, but pine land is better, 
trees reared from their earliest infancy in rich hammock soil, and 
then transplanted at three or more years of age, to pine land, 
will be apt to droop and pine, and either die outright, or else 
linger along for years only half alive, just as a child tenderly 
reared and cared for, will droop if suddenly transplanted to a life 
of exposure with coarse and insufficient food, for every nursery 
tuee that is set out in a hammock grove, one hundred at least are 
set out on pine land ; therefore, let them start out in life, on the 
kind of food they are to have in after years ; then when they set 
forth on their life work, in our great groves, there is no violent 
change in their nurture, and thrift and vigor are assured. 

The site for a nursery should be on a slight rise to insure 
proper drainage without ditching ; hard pan or clay should be not 
nearer the surface than three feet ; the exposure should be south- 
erly, and the site protected as far as possible from high winds. 

If water cannot be easily procured from a neighboring lake 
or pond, dig a well in the center of the nursery ; it ^vill repay its 
cost by the number of young trees it will save, for water they 
must have, and a plenty of it, during their first summer in the 
nursery ; after that they are old enough to take care of their own 
water supply. 

Here again, mulching is of great advantage in preserving 



FEOM SEED TO GROVE, 



27 



the requisite moisture, and altliougli it may, as some demur, bring 
the roots to the surface, that is just what you want in a nursery, 
as it facilitates the final digging up of the trees, and fewer roots 
are broken in the process than woukl be the case if tliey were 
more deeply rooted. 

Lay out the ground for the nursery carefully ; a little extra 
care now will save a great deal of work and annoyance in the fu- 
ture. Run the rows north and south four feet apart, so that the 
sun may reach the whole surface of the ground ; let the latter be 
as level as possible, and free fi.*om trash ; and if you work in a 
light dressing of well rottedmanure, and muck.or commercial fer- 
tilizer (we believe that already mentioned to be superior to any 
other) so much the better. 

The length of the nursery rows should never exceed three 
hundred feet, as at this distance apart, running at right angles , 
with the rows, there should be roadways, for horse and cart, not 
less than eighteen feet, this allows for turning without trampling 
on the beds. 

With regard to laying out the nursery in the manner de- 
scribed, we cannot do better than to transcribe here a method 
taken from a valuable work by Thos. M. Garey, termed. " Orange 
Culture in California." 

" Provide a strong rope, cord or wire, a few feet longer than 
you wish the rows to be ; a four feet measure at each end of the 
section, with which to mark ofi' the distances between the rows, 
two good hard wood stakes, or iron pins, which are better, and 
lools with which to drive them firnily into the ground. 

Fasten one end of the rope, cord or wire, to a stake driven 
at one end of the proposed row, straighten it if necessary. 

For marking the spaces in the row, use a tool made similar 
to a hand roller with triangular pieces a few inches long fastened 
lengthwise to the roller, a foot apart. Four feet in circumference 
or a small fraction, more than fifteen and one-fourth inches in di- 
ameter, is a convienient size for the roller. 

To use this tool, take hold of the handle, place the roller on 
the tightly stretched line, and push it forward or draw it after 
you along the line ; the pieces on the roller will mark crosswise of 



28 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



the line at regular distances of a foot. If any other distance 
be desired, it can be regulated by the diameter of the roller, and 
the distance between the strips. Remove the line to the next 
proposed row. This leaves a mark lengthwise, crossed at regular 
distances, ready to receive the plants; a roller of greater diameter 
would require less power to use it." 

Now these directions may seem uselessly complicated and 
troublesome, but try it once, and you will try it again. It saves 
a great deal of time and trouble, and lays out the rows more accu- 
rately than is possible in any other way, and the after ease with 
which the trees can be cultivated, will amply repay for the extra 
care at the start ; it is much easier to plough a straight row than 
a crooked one. 

The four feet space between the rows permits the cultivator, 
harrow, or plow to be used, and the one foot space between the 
young trees allows of thorough hoeing. 

The ground should be thoroughly moist, both in the seed bed 
and in the nursery; when the plants are to be moved, never under 
any circumstances attempt to transplant when the soil is dry ; 
either wait for a soaking rain or water the ground artificially. 

Loosen the plants carefully, thrusting the spade down per- 
pendicularly, and work it back and forth until the soil is detached 
from the roots. 

The moment the plants is out of the ground put them in the 
shade ; more harm is done to trees, old and young, by allowing 
the sun to touch their tender roots, even for a few minutes, than 
many people realize. 

Never take up more than a thousand at a time, unless there 
be a large working force, for it is of the utmost importance to 
keep them out of the ground as short a time as possible. 

Sort the plants, and throw away all the stunted, inferior ones, 
for they will make only stunted trees ; the Spartan plan, of put- 
ting to death all the weakly, sickly infants, is a good one to prac- 
tice here. 

Prune back the tops, and make them as uniform in size in 
each row as possible. 

It is a good plan to place the trees in small boxes and throw 



FROM SEED TO GROVE. 



29 



wet soil on the roots, withdrawing them one by one, as they are 
set in the rows, or else place the roots in pails of water. 

In planting, press down, and back and forth a nurseryman's 
dibble at the intersection of the rows and crosslines, put the roots 
in the hole thus made, pack the soil down firmly around them, 
being sure to leave no vacant spaces anywhere. 

Then mulch the plants, keep doAvn the weeds, give them a 
sprinkling now and then of some kind of fertilizer, not too much, 
however, for it is not wise to accustom them to too "rich living." 

For the first year after setting out, let them grow as bushy as 
they please ; the foliage will shade the tender bark of the stem, 
and encourage the formation of a mass of fibrous rootlets ; but 
after the first year, it is well to prune surplus branches, leaving one 
leader to form the stock of the future tree ; do not let the little 
shoots that put out along the stem do any more tha.n show them- 
selves before you pinch them oft'; keep a foot or two of the stem 
clear of branches. 

From the second year on, you can bud your young seedlings 
with some choice varieties, and then in from one year from the bud, 
each little tree wdll be worth thirty cents, and in another year 
forty or fifty cents, according to variety and growth. 

Or as seedling, two year old trees sell at twenty cents, three 
years at thirty, four years forty, each year adding $10 per hun- 
dred to their value. 

There is now, and will be for years to come, a brisk demand 
for young trees, both budded and seedlings, and the thrifty far- 
seeing settler may readily clear several hundred dollars annually 
with the investment of no capital, save that of a little care in 
planting seeds, and raising a nursery. 



CHAPTER IV 



HOW TO BUD AND GRAFT. 

In transferring a scion of some choice variety to a new and 
independent life on a strange stock, there are two modes of pro- 
cedure — either to bud or graft the one upon the other. 

Grafting and budding are ahnost identical, save in the mode 
of approach of scion to seek ; in the former whole twigs, or even 
large branches are used as scions ; in the latter, only the little dor- 
mant buds that lie jjerdu in the axil of every leaf : in grafting, 
the top of the tree is cut oti', usually close to the ground : in the 
latter, only the tips of the growing l)rauches are pinched off, — 
and right there lies the secret of the universally preference for 
budding over grafting, for if the bud refuses, as we may >ny to 
suckle — its foster mother the tree is not iDjured in the least, and, 
if the season permits, another trail may be made at once : while, 
if the graft fails, the stock has at best been put back -d year or 
two in its growth, and indeed, may never recover from tlie shock 
at all. 

The operation of propagation varieties Ijy budding is full of 
mystery and wonder ; we take a tiny bud. not even developed so 
as to be visible to the eye, but given a growing leaf, we know 
that it conceals this embryo bud at its base: we cut a slit in the 
bark of a tree, and cutting off this tiny bud. slip it into the aper- 
ture — and from this invisible germ a great tree in time springs 
forth, bearing fruit like unto its parent I Hovr is it done ? AVe 
know that it just as we know that our hearts beat, our lungs 
inflate, we can see the outward result, and watch its progress, but 
as to what mysterious inner force is at work to accomplish the 
marvelous result, who can say '/ 

We know that it is the cambium, or proper jidce of vegeta- 
bles, that serves as the means of junction between the scion and 



* By permission of the Florida AgricuUnrist. :ii which this chapter was 
originally pul)lished. 3<^t 



HOW TO BUD AND GEAFT. 



31 



the stock — this is why they must be of similar nature, just ex- 
actly as in ourselves, the two lips of a wound is drawn together 
by the coagulable lymph which the blood deposits between them ; 
but we do not know how, or by what inner force this resuit is at- 
tained. 

Examine carefully the wound of a bud when it has "taken," 
about two weeks after the operation, and you will observe a thin 
layer of small, green granulations, in the midst of a viscid fluid, 
^nd joifting the two parts that have thus been successfully brought 
together. These granulations are the rudiments of vegetable 
organization, and are deposited by the cambium, soon becoming 
fully solidified and complete ; and wherever there is a wound on 
a tree, you will find this knitting going on, just like the mending 
of a bone in a human being, provided that the air has been care- 
fully excluded from the wound. 

Before entering upon the practical details of the usual meth- 
ods of budding, let us fully understand the several requirements 
necessary for its successful operation. 

First of all, both scion and stock should be inactive growth, 
both should be strong and healthy, as otherwise the value of the 
future tree would be seriously impaired ; the scion should be ta- 
ken from fully matured shoots of the current year's growth of a 
bearing tree, and always from the lateral branches, as they, for 
some unexplained reason, will produce fruit much sooner than 
a scion from the . uppermost branches ; also, where it is prac- 
ticable to place a bud with fruit already growing on it, in the stock 
fruit will be obtained much sooner than by the simple bud alone, 
we have just shield budded a Sicily lemon, with fruit as large as a 
walnut on its upper end, and we expect to see that lemon come 
to perfection in the bosom of its foster mother and to have broth- 
ers and sisters a year hence. 

In two weeks after the operation of budding, its success or 
failure will be apparent. During this interval, and longer, if 
the bud " takes " the scion should be partially shaded from the 
too fierce rays of the sun, by a light wrapping of moss, or better 
still, as it avoids the risk of too much moisture, from heavy 
rains, by a board inclined against the trunk, in front of the scion. 



32 



OEAXGE CULTURE. 



Another point, and one not generally known, (we have onW 
learned it ourselves by personal experience) is this : Alwavs in- 
sert your bud on the north or northeast side of the stock ; glance at 
the shadows cast by our hot summer sun during three-fourths of" 
the day, and you will see the reason why — the southern and west- 
ern portions of the stock being all that time exposed to its scorch- 
ing rays, and insuring the broiling or frying to a brown cinder 
of your tender scion. 

Still another thing to be attended to, before beginning the 
actual operation of budding, is the mode of wrapping after the 
insertion of the scion. 

Some people give no protection to the bud at all, and these 
slovenly folks lose three-fourths of their work, as they deserve to 
do ; others put a little daub of grafting wax over the edges of the 
cut, and these scarcely less lazy people lose at least one-half of 
their time and labor, and those scions that do " take " do not 
grow with half the vigor that they would, if properly treated at 
the outset. 

But there are still other persons, wise in their generation, 
who put faith in those grand old sayings that 

" Whatever's worth the doing-. 
Is worth the doing well,'' 

and a little trouble in the present saves much trouble in the fu- 
ture," and these sensible individuals before proceeding to bud 
their trees, prepare a quantity of strips of strong muslin or cali- 
co, about a quarter of an inch v\-ide ; dip them into melting graft- 
ing wax, and take them out with little sticks, hang them up to 
dry. They will keep good for years if it need be. They are then 
ready to wrap lightly around the scion after its insertion in the 
stock, and if the end and edges are rubbed down firmly with the 
finger, they will not even require tying. By this simple method 
the scion and stock are held securely in close contact, and air 
and water are excluded while the process of junction is going on; 
a necessity, as we have already seen, to its success. 

To illustrate the difference, smearing with wax and binding 
with waxed strips, we quote from a writer in a New York Rural 
publication; he bound a part of his scions with strips and on others 
used only wax. 



HOW TO BUD AND GRAFT. 



33 



" Those rapped with strips all grew ; of the others about one 
half grew ; also many of the former grew eight feet in one season, 
the waxed ones, without the strips, not making over half that 
growth. I claim that there are absolutely many chances in fa- 
vor of the strips, over the other vvay." 

Even in the old method of regular grafting, n\ here the whole 
top of the tree is cut off, these waxed strips are just as much to 
be preferred over the wax daubs as is budding. Try it and see, 
and our word for it you will never again set about this kind of 
work without plenty of waxed strips at your side. 

There is a regular recipe for making the grafting wax most 
commonly used ; it is this : " One part beeswax, one part tallow, 
two parts rosin ; melt together till thoroughly incorporated." 

IN'ow, it may be presumptuous in us to meddle with this time- 
honored recipe, but still we will venture to insinuate, with all 
due respect, that in our own experience, the rosin may, with ad- 
vantage, either be omitted entirely, or else be only half as much 
added to the beeswax and tallow, instead of double as much. We 
hnd that the strips dipped in the latter only, are fully as eftective, 
and far more agreeable to handle ; neither do they, as some claim, 
become rancid without the rosin. 

Lastly, a very sharp pointed, thiu-bladed knife is necessary, 
and nov,' we are ready to select our scions, which, as we have else- 
where stated, must be taken from, as well as inserted in, a grow- 
ing plant. 

Considerable judgment must be exercised in this selection, as 
a " stick " of buds may be either too old or too young. It is too 
old if the shoot taken be of more than a year's growth ; too young 
if it be not fully matured — the woody parts hardened and the em- 
bryo bud developed beneath the axile of the leaf It is always 
best to use the growth of the current season, just as soon as this 
stage of maturity has been reached, and a short experience will 
enable you to judge accurately, Avhen this point has been at- 
tained. 

These remarks apply to all scions, whether orange, lemon, 
peach, plum, apple, or any other of the great vegetable tribe. 



34 



ORANGE CULTURE, 



And now, at last, we come to the practical details of the ac- 
tual art, for it is an art, of budding. 

There are several modes of introducing the scion to the stock 
of these there is one largely practiced, we are sorry to say, that 
cannot be reprehended too severely. A man cuts off a short stick 
containing two or three buds, shapes one end to a flat point, like 
a pen, then make a little cut crosswise in the stock, thrusts the 
" pen-bud " down into the slit, and passes on to scar another tree 
and waste another bud, boasting of how many he can do in an 
hour. True, it is a quick way of playing at budding — in one 
sense — but when, by and by, he comes back again and again to- 
replace dead buds and search for fresh spots on the poor devoted 
stock, where its once smooth bark is not at all roughened and 
scared by old wounds ; if then, we repeat Jie will only keep count- 
of the time thus occupied after the Avork should have been com- 
pleted, and the time lost in the growth of the buds while the sea- 
son is passing relentlessly on, he will come to the conclusion that 
a little more time and care in the hrst place, would have been time 
and trouble saved, and loss of buds, and of the growing season 
saved also. And therefore we would banish the pen-buds," as 
the resource of lazy, ne'er-do-wells Avho will reap as they sow. 

The one kind of budding that is pre-eminent over all others 
for its invariable success, if properly done, is called " shield-bud- 
ding." 8ee that your stock is cleared of all twigs that may in- 
terfere with the wrappings and then make a perpendicular slit 
about an inch and a half long, about four to six inches above the 
ground, then make another cut across at the base, the two cuts 
presenting the appearance of the letter T reversed thus ; the 
cross-cut is often made at the top, but it is not the best way. 
Now pass the point of your knife, or the flat handles if it is a 
regular budding knife, carefully along the upright cut, slightly 
raising the edges, giving the knife a certain little twist, easily 
learned, at the base, so as to leave the corners a little turned back, 
like the " dog ears " of a book. Now take your knife, and care- 
fully cut off a bud from your " stick," take as little of the wood 
as possible, and let the back extend about half an inch below 
and above the bud; now take this little strip in you hand, and, 



HOW TO BUD AND ( IK A FT. 



35 



with the woody side upward, bend the end slightly, till the thiu 
layer of wood remaining, separates at the end from the delicate 
bark, then thrust your thumb nail between the two, and now 
holding the bud uppermost so as to keep it straight and unbroken 
gently pass you nail along bending the woody layer downward 
until it is entirely detached, leaving in your hand a nice, clean 
strip of bark with the bud intact ; if, however, the wood has not 
parted readily, but has torn the bud oi*left a little hole in it, be 
sure that it was not in a fit condition for budding, and thro w it 
away. 

This may seem a difficult and delicate operation, at the first 
glance, but difficult ? no, not after a little practice ; delicate? yes ; 
but one cannot expect to treat a tender bud roughly and have it 
live. If you prefer you can omit to remove the woody layer, pro- 
vided you cut it as thin as possible, but it does not make either so 
sure a junction or so sightly in the years to come, for as the al- 
burnum or wood will never unite with the stock, neither be ab- 
sorbed, there will always be an ugly knot or ridge marking the 
point of junction between stock and scion, whereas the strip of 
bark only, unites completely in every part, leaving in after years 
a smooth, straight trunk, with no unsightly prominence. 

And now you are ready to insert the bud, which is to be done 
upside down, for the same reason that you made the cross cut at 
the base of the perpendicular, instead of the top, namely, because 
in this position, as you will see, it sheds rain, and allows no water 
to lodge and soak in between the bandage and the bud ; it is al- 
ways better to leave the leaf attached to the bud, as this avoids 
leaving open any channel for air or moisture to penetrate, and 
moreover, the sap in the leaf nourishes the bud; but with or 
without the leaves, insert your bud upside down ; push it gently 
up from below, till the upper end of the cut is reached, be sure 
that the bud-bark lies smoothly and that the lower end does not 
project below the cross cut ; this accomplished, start the wrapping 
just above the upper end of the cut, holding the end firmly while 
you wrap, pulling tightly all the while. 

Some employ two wrappings, one above and one belovr the 
bud, as it is all important to leave the bud itself— and only the 



36 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



bud — exposed to light and air ; but a skillful worker Avill use only- 
one strip, giving a certain downward slant to the last turn above, 
that will carry it below the bud in front, and then continuing the 
wrapping until the base is well covered ; tying the strips, as we 
nave sa id, is needless. In two weeks vou will know whether vour 
work has been "for better or for worse ; " the former certainly, if 
all has been done "decently and in order;" the junction always 
takes place at the top first, therefore, as the edges swell and unite, 
the top wrapping should be first loosened, say in ten days after 
the sprout has started, and the lower wraps a week later ; it is 
better to loosen at first, than to remove them entirely, as the newly 
formed bark needs some protection for a month or two. 

Having thus investigated the mysteries of the more popular 
art of ljudding, let us next " interview " that which may well be 
termed its " elder brother." 

Far, far back in the olden times, the theory and practice of 
grafting or multiplying and perpetuating remarkable varieties or 
monstrosities, by the union of a young shoot from one kind of plant 
with the stem of another, was almost as well undersood as at the 
present day ; it is not an art which admits of much progress or al- 
teration ; there is but one means of securing success, and there- 
fore, as we graft now-a-days, so did the ancient Greeks and Jews 
and Chinese before us. The New Testament refers to the art as 
practiced by the Jews ; Pliny and Virgil tell us that it was famil- 
iar to the Greeks, but no w^here can we trace the first discovery of 
what, though so common, is one of the most wonderful phenomena 
of nature. As to the Chinese, the first Roman Catholic mission- 
aries who ventured to penetrate the then mysterious fastnesses of 
heathenism, taught them the art, and so readily did they take up 
the new idea thus presented to them, that very soon they excelled 
their teachers, just as, at the present day, they surpass all other 
nations in the practice of curious and unique modes of grafting 
shoot upon shoot, stem upon stem, until ofttimes, six or eight, 
ten or twelve kinds of fruit (of the same natural family of course) 
may be seen borne upon the same tree, all flourishing, all strong 
and healthful. 

There is no one function of the horticulturist more impor- 



HOW TO BUD AND GRAFT. 



37 



taut than this; it accomplishes the propagation of particular va- 
rieties more surely and more speedily than is possible by seed or 
-cutting or layers, and besides this, is invaluable in hastening and 
increasing the fruitfulness of fruit trees. Another thing, too, when 
ii root is still vigorous and healthy, but its stems and branches 
old and weak, a graft or bud near, or upon the thrifty root, will in 
a very short time replace the worn out branches with a new, strong, 
healthy growth, into wliich all the strength of the large root is 
thrown at once. The stock should always have strong roots ; 
about the graft or scion, it does not matter so much, though of 
course it is desirable that it also should be of vigorous habit, but, 
if it is not a healthy stock, will imjDart to a weak, but not diseased 
i;cion, a large portion of its own thrift and vigor. Grafting 
should always be performed early in the spring, when the sap is 
just beginning to circulate ; the grafts may be either shoots or the 
current year's growth, or those of several years back, and herein 
is one of the most marked differences between grafting and bud- 
ding, for with the latter the scion must invariably be of the cur- 
rent season's growth, containing an embryo bud. 

The stock does not change the species of the scion, but it does 
very much affect the quality of the fruit. A weakly stock will 
make small and insipid ; a vigorous one, large and fine flavored 
fruit. 

The great art in grafting, and it requires no small degree of 
skill and care and patience, is to unite exactly the inner bark of 
the scion with the inner bark of the stock, and thus to keep them 
in close contact until the union is complete ; it is a more trouble- 
some and more uncertain operation than that of budding, besides 
being more injurious to the stock, in case of failure, but it has 
the one advantage of giving a cjuicker and larger start to the new 
tree, in the event of success, for while the budded tree has but 
one tiny bud to start from, the grafted tree may have one or a 
dozen whole branches, sometimes even the entire top of a tree. 

There are several methods of grafting, and to the details of 
these we will now proceed. 

The most simple and therefore most commonly successful is 
that called " grafting by approach," or " inarching," For large 



/ 



38 



ORANGE CULTUEE. 



plants it is impracticable, but for smaller plants, one of Tvhich at 
least is in a box or pot, it is invaluable. The two plants, stock 
and scion, being brought close together ; wounds are made upon 
each part to be grafted exactly corresponding to each other, in 
other words, j^lates of bark of equal size are removed, and the 
new parts thus laid bare, are boimd together in close contact, 
■with a prepared wrapping which keeps out the air. In one 
month ' not in tvro weeks as in budding * if the work has been 
properly done union between the two ■will have taken place, and 
then all that is necessarv is to cut loose the scion from its 
original parent and bring down its foster mother to the level of 
the " child of its adoption," when a new plant of the desired kind 
■ss ill be the result, without injury to that from which it was taken. 

By this method stems, roots and branches may be united, 
and fruit or even flowers, be grafted upon leaves ; in short " graft- 
ing bv approach," is grafting j:>a?' excellence, and affords scope for 
curious experiments, such as we have just indicated ; experiments 
that any skillful and ingenious gardener may vary and multiply 
indefinitely. 

In some ca>es while the junction between scion and stock is 
in progress, by this method, the plants are placed in moist hot- 
houses (not beds) or under bell glasses, and if an accumulation 
of too much moisture is carefully guarded against, this plan is a 
good one, as the union takes place more surely and expeditiously. 
This is the favorite method of grafting in cases where the plants 
in question, either stock or scion, are too rare and valuable to risk 
their destruction by ordinary methods in the event of failure to 
knit. 

And next we come to " whip or " tongue " grafting, usually 
practiced on small nursery trees. To perform this operation in 
the most perfect manner, the top of the stock, and end of the 
scion, should be of equal diameter, and therefore this kind of graft- 
ing unlike the others, may be done on smaller stocks. Both scion 
and stock must be cut obliquely as nearly at corresponding an- 
gles as is jDOSsible to get them. The best way to secure the accu- 
racv in this respect is first to cut ofi' the stock and then place the 
extremity c^f the scion along side and a little below the oblique 



HOW TO BUD AND GRAFT. 



39 



cut, to scratch the line of the latter on the scion, and then make 
a clean, smooth cut along the slope indicated. 

]S'ext, the tip of the stock must l)e cut off horizontally, and 
a narrow slit made, nearly in the center of the sloped face of the 
stock, doAvnwards, and another corresponding one in the slope of 
the scion, upwards. 

The tongue or wedge-like strip, which now passes the upper 
part of the sloped face of the scion, is not to be slipped downwards 
in the cleft of the stock, the inner bark of both being brought 
closely together on one side, so as to prevent all change of slipping 
out of place in tying — and this tying must be done at once 
tightly and neatly. 

The last named operation, in grafting as in budding, is a most 
important item in the work, and while strips of bast matting are 
most commonly used, we cannot too highly recommend the em- 
ployment of strong muslin, dipped in equal parts of melted tallow 
and beeswax. 

AVhere these waxed strips are not used however, (and some- 
times in large stocks even where they are,) grafting clay must be 
employed. There are several ways of preparing it : one is to beat 
up well together three parts of stiff yellow or blue clay, or clayey 
loam, with one part of horse dung, and a little chopped hay ; 
another, that chiefly used by the French and Dutch, is to mix one 
half fresh cow dung with one half fresh loam. 

But whether waxed strips, bast matting or grafting clay are 
used, every part of the wounds of stock and scion must be well 
and thoroughly covered, as the whole end and purpose of both 
clay and strips is to prevent air, rain and light from penetrating 
to the wounded parts. 

The French method of grafting differs from ours, Avhich is' 
copied from the English, inasmuch as, no matter how large the 
stock may be, they never cut off more than the width of the 
scion; and as their nation excels the English as gardeners, it 
would, we think, be well to take the hint thus thrown out. A true 
born Johnny Bull scorns to accept a lesson from the despised and 
hated Johnny Crapaud, but not so his old time friend and ally, 
Uncle Sam ; so, let us. Uncle Sam's children, take heed and profit. 



40 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



And, in point of fact, it would seem useless as well as hurtful to 
inflict a larger wound than necessary upon the stock, thus giving 
it more work to do to heal over its cuts, just at the time when its 
full energies are needed, in the proper sustenance of its foster 
child ; and therefore we would advise the adoption of the French 
method, and the catting away of the major part of the stock after 
the graft has taken firm hold, not before. 
" Cleft " grafting is next in order. 

Here the head of the branch or stock is cut off* obliquely 
and then the sloped part cut horizontally to its middle ; then, with 
a sharp knife or chisel, which latter is best, a cleft two inches 
deep is made in the crown, downward, at right angles to the 
sloped part. Be very careful here not to injure the pith, or yours 
is "love's labor lost." 

Leave the knife or chisel placed horizontally in the base of the 
cleft to keep it open, and take up your scion ; now with a sharp 
knife shape its extremity for an inch and a half in the shape of 
a wedge, leaving it about an eight of an inch thicker on the outer 
or bark side, and bringing it to a finer edge on the inner side ; 
and now you are all ready to slip your scion down into the cleft 
as deep as the wedge you have cut — one and a half inches — this 
done, with the thicker or bark edge placed very carefully even 
with the inner bark of the stock, draw out your knife from the 
cleft below it, and you will be surprised to see how closely and 
firmly the scion is held. Two or three scions may be inserted in 
this way into the same stock, in separate clefts, the whole being 
tightly wrapped and closed up. 

" Crown " grafting is employed chiefly on thick stocks, long 
branches shortened, or headed down trees, and as many as a doz- 
en scions may be used if desired. 

First, you saw off" the head of stock or branch as level as 
may be, and pare the surface smooth ; then cut one side of your 
scions flat and sloping, one and a half inches long, making a lit- 
tle horizontal cut or shoulder at the top, to rest on the crown of 
the stock. 

Your scions ready, slip a thin blade or the ivory handle of a 
budding knife about two inches downward, between the bark and 



HOW TO BUD AND ORAFT. 



41 



wood at the top of the stock, pass it gently around the latter, 
withdraw it, and thrust in its place your scions, one after the other, 
their number being limited, if you like, only by the size of the 
stock, till they stand up like a crown around the top of the stake, 
their little shoulders resting on the level surface for support. 

And now the inevitable wrapping, and the operation is com- 
pleted, " for better or for worse," as a month will tell. 

Yet another method of grafting is there, termed " side graft- 
ing." This is often also called "tongue grafting," and differs 
only from "whip" or "tongue grafting" jiroper, in being performed 
on the side of a tree instead of on the top of a cut down stock. 
Where a valuable tree has lost a branch from any cause, as often 
happens, and an ugly, lapsided appearance is the result, " side 
grafting " is resorted to to supply the deficiency. 

Having selected the spot .where you wish a new branch, you 
pare oft' the bark and a little of the wood, cut the scions to fit as 
nearly as possible, and wrap them closely together. 

In all these various modes of grafting, while their success or 
failure will be evident within a month by the aspect of the buds 
on the scion, yet it is not safe, if good fortune has attended your 
eftbrts, to remove the wrapping or clay for at least three months, 
until the graft be completely healed over, and even then the re- 
moval should be gradual. 

In some cases, to be determined by the judgment of the op- 
erator, a ligature around the graft, or a stake to which the young 
shoots of the scion should be tied, may be advisable for a year or 
more, and often a bandage of moss wrapped lightly around the 
point of junction will be of great advantage in retaining moisture, 
and warding off* the hot rays of the sun, until the wounds are 
completely healed over. 

There is still one more mode of grafting, which may aptly 
be termed a " cross " between it and budding. 

This is called "flute grafting," and consists in taking a ring 
of bark, with several' buds on it, cutting away a corresponding 
ring from the stock and putting in its place the scion ring, so that 
the edges of the bark equally join. This must be done in the 
spring, when the bark parts most readily, and is the surest of all 



42 



OEAXGE CULTURE, 



modes of grafting because it so nearly ai^proaches budding, pure 
and simple. 

In grafting it is always better to take the scion from the lat- 
eral branches, because more fruitful, and also to remove them 
from the tree several days before using, that the sap may partly 
dry out, leaving place for the sap from the stock to enter more 
freely. 



4 



CHAPTER Y 



AVHERE TO PLANT. 

And now, having brought up our young trees to a point 
where they are ready for setting out, let us consider the best lo- 
cation for their permanent home, where their life work may be 
most perfectly accomplished. 

At the very outset, it becomes a mooted question whether to 
locate the grove in pine land or hammock. 

Some growers advocate the one, some the other, but the fact 
is, that as time rolls on and brings further experience in this new 
calling of orange culture, the friends of the i^ine land groves are 
becoming more and more numerous. 

Until very recently, there was one point on which both 
cliques were in accord, and this was, that the orange tree would 
not flourish on low lands, but that a high, dry location w^as im- 
perative. 

But now, several v/ell known reliable growers have come to 
the front, to prove that orange trees will do, have done, and are 
doing well on low hammock, and on low flat woods ; that they 
grow as thrifty, bear as profusely, and their fruit stands ship- 
ping as well as though the trees were set on the high lands. 

One of these growers, Mr. E. H. Hart, of Federal Point, 
Florida, gives it as his opinion, based on the experience of years, 
that the crusade against low lands for the orange, is an arrant 
humbug that ought to have been exploded long ago. It has been 
kept up chiefly by those having high lands to sell, and by persons, 
w'ho living upon land of a different character knew no better." 

The gentleman referred to has for twelve years successfully 
raised and cultivated a large grove on just such land as has been 
condemned heretofore as absolutely worthless for orange culture ; 
flat pine woods, with clay and hard-pan only eighteen inches from 
the surface. 

In very rainy weather the soil becomes so saturated with 

43 



44 



ORA>-GE CULTURE. 



water, that it fills up and runs over into the furrows and ditches 
prepared to carry off the surplus moisture : yet in defiance of this 
and of the " croakers" who declared the trees would die as soon as- 
their tap roots reached the hard-pan ; Mr. Hart's grove is to-day 
one of the finest in the State, although, as he says, on several 
occasions the river ([ St. John's ) rose to an unusual height, and 
stood for several weeks a foot or more deep, in the lower parts of 
my grove, the higher ground being also completely soaked, by 
reason of no drainage. So far from suffering injury, the trees ap- 
peared rather benefited by the irrigation." 

Also this same orange grower, having ditched his grove af- 
terwards, decided that a simple, shallow furrow was all that was^ 
needful. 

In Sardinia there is a famous grove, a square mile in extent. 
Avhere a stream of water running through the center, is employed 
to lay the whole grove under water every two weeks, all through 
the summer. 

Xow, here are well authenticated instances goiug to prove 
that the orange is more '* given to drink " than used to be be- 
lieved, and that they will grow on low lands if properly looked 
after; and by " properly "" we mean that in planting, the trees 
should be set a little higher than the surrounding land, and that 
shallow ditches or furrows, a hundred feet apart, should be run 
through the grove. 

Therefore, we would not advise the settler to select flat- 
woods" for a grove, other things being equal, yet if such lauds 
offer decided advantages, as to price, location as to transit lines, 
society and health, over other lands ofiered in the desii'ed vicinity, 
we would say, " take them, set you trees high, furrow your grove,, 
to lead off superfluous waters: put out a few Eucalyptus Globu- 
lus trees here and there, and have no fears of the result."" 

The orange tree is a good deal of a cosmopolitau, and will 
flourish in a variety of soils, in clay. sand, shell ur loamy soils : in 
low or high hammocks ; in pine land, or black-jack lands ; very 
much depends on the treatment they receive ; but when it is a* 
easy to obtain pine land or high hammock, they are to be pre- 



WHEEE TO PLA^'T. 



45 



ferred, as given equal, or even better results than the others, with 
less labor. 

Given two tracts of land, one hammock, the other good pine, 
at equal cost, and equal advantages in all other respects, many 
Avould doubtless select the formei". 

But we, with the experience gained by some years residence 
in Florida, would select the pine land for a permanently satis- 
factory grove. 

Undoubtedly, the hammocks are the richest lands at the 
start, but their fertility is deceptive; that is, it is not lasting; trees 
and vegetables grow finely for several years, but the fertility 
given to the soil by the once falling leaves of the deciduous un- 
dergrowth (cut away to make room for cultivation) is soon ex- 
hausted, and after that every year increases the need of fertilizers 
in the hammock groves. 

But with pine lands it is just the reverse, they are poorer at 
the outset, but improve steadily with each year's cultivation. 

Pine land, with clay subsoil, is rapidly coming more and 
more into favor; as the best possible basis to work upon, it has 
" bottom " on which one can depend to retain all surplus fertil- 
izers, until the trees can utilize them. 

When you can find clay subsoil anywhere from one to four 
feet from the surface, there be not afraid to locate you grove. 

It is not always safe to depend on surface indications, or the 
reports of others ; the most trustworthy plan is to take a spade 
yourself, and dig here and there on the land you propose to use 
for your grove; and thus avoid the possible application of the 
fable of "The Lark and her young ones." 

We have never yet met an orange grower whose trees were 
located on good pine, w ith clay a few feet below the surface, who 
was not thoroughly satisfied with the progress of his grove. 

Then the hammock land is much more expensive than the 
pine ; Avhen the latter can be had of the best quality from ten to 
twenty dollars an acre, the former^ is held from fifty to seventy- 
five, or even one hundred dollars. 

The expense of clearing the laud prepai'atory to cultivation 
must also be taken into account. The hammock land is full of 



4t3 



ORAXGE CULTUPwE. 



imder-brusli. young trees, roots, vines and palmetto ; all these 
must not only be cnt down, and either be burned, or piled up to 
decay, and furnish by and by nourishing food for the future grove, 
but the numberless roots must also be grubbed up at no light ex- 
penditure of time and money, time, if the settler is a strong man. 
able and willing to work ; money, if he has to hire the clearing 
done for him. 

It does not cost less than forty or fifty dollars to clear an acre 
of hammock land, as it should be cleared, and for a year or two 
afterward the fight agamst the upspringing roots must be waged 
unceasingly, or the cleaning will go back to its original state, and 
all the time and money already expended be thrown away. 

In clearing a piece of hammock for a grove, it is only the 
undergrowth that should be got rid of entirely, nearly, if not all 
of the grand old live-oak trees should be left standing to flourish 
as of old, before civilization had dreamed of intruding upon their 
time-honored domains. 

This is a very important point, in the well being of the 
grove, especially in one formed by budding a former "wild 
grove." 

It should be remembered that these trees have grown up 
from earliest infancy to maturity beneath the protecting shelter 
-of these giant oaks, whose wide stretching arms, heavily draped 
with moss, ward off the high winds, frosts, and the fierce heat of 
the mid-day sun; alter these conditions by cutting down all the 
protecting oaks, the " Orange Guard " they may well be called ; 
and you at once give the trees, it is your interest to care for, such 
a shock as they will never recover from, and expose them to hard- 
ship.-, such as they never encoimtered before. 

The thriftiest voung o^roves in the State have been ajrown 
under just such shelter as the great oaks delight to bestow upon 
them. 

The value of these " Orange Guards " was thoroughly de- 
monstrated two years ago, when groves supposed to be too far 
.South, or too well shielded by water protection to be imperiled 
by frost, were severely damaged, and some of the trees killed to 
the ground by a sudden nocturnal \nsit from erratic " Jack Frost." 



WHERE TO PLANT. 



47 



These groves were uot sheltered l)y overhanging trees, but 
further north bv manv miles was a far-famed srrove on Oranc^e 
Lake, that was thus guarded : and adjoining it another, Avherein 
all the trees had been cut down. 

When that disastrous frost came, the latter grove looked as 
if a fire had swept through it, the trees being stripped of their 
leaves, and thousands of dollars worth of fruit lying under them; 
while the former was totally uninjured, its leaves as green as in 
midsummer, its fruit untouched. 

The owner of the unsheltered grove now declares that he 
would gladly give twenty thousand dollars for a few of the 
stately forest trees, that once sheltered his domesticated wild 
grove. 

We have said enough to demonstrate the im})ortance of this 
point, so will pass on to the consideration of pine land suitable 
for orange culture. 

The growth of timber on these lands is, as its name denotes, 
chiefly pine, with here and there, small oaks, shrubs, wild per- 
simmons, hickory, and a few other trees, sometimes solitary, but 
more frequently in groups : and where the latter occurs, it is called 
" scrub hammock.'" 

The rule is, that where tall, straight pine trees are found, 
large in size, and about seventy to the acre, and no undergrowth, 
except the wire-grass, may be so termed, the land is of the fii-st- 
class; where the small oak trees are scattered thinly about, it is 
second-class, and where the oaks surpass the pines in number, 
it is less desirable, being inferior to the others. 

There is something to be said however, even for this; it is 
very poor at first, it is true, but it responds very quickly to fer- 
tilizers, and even the poorest of it can be brought to a high degree 
of cultivation, and thereafter continually improves year by year. 

There is only one way of clearing hammock land, and that 
we have mentioned ; there are, however several ways of prepar- 
ing pine land for a grove. 

One way is to girdle the trees, which deadens them, and 
puts an immediate stop to the great drain of their wide spread- 
ing roots upon the plant food lying latent in the ground. 



48 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



The trees thus girdled are left standing, and then the land 
is ready for fencing and ploughing ; in a few months the dead 
limbs begin to fall, and so continue for several years, and the 
branches must either be carried away from time to time, or else 
allowed to remain where they fall to be an eye-sore and a con- 
stant annoyance in cultivation. 

The first cost of this method of clearing is very little, only 
about two dollars per acre or less, but it is a very unsatisfactory 
^vay, and likely to cost more in the end than it saved in the be- 
o-innino-. 

After a few years time, when the orauge grove is fully un- 
der way, the deadened trees will begin to fell during a heavy 
rain or a high wind, or often without these provocations; down they 
crash, now here, now there, and as they are not remarkable for 
good judgment, they are just as likely as not to come down on 
an orange tree, and put it beyond the pale of recognition. 

And then the fallen giant must be chopped up and either 
hauled away or burned ; the expense and trouble of doing which 
now are just as great as they would have been at first, plus the 
loss of some of your best orange trees. 

The claim made that the dropping branches, bark and sap 
of the pine trees left to decay on the ground, furnish a valuable 
fertilizer, is a specious one, and even if one is willing to have his 
grove strewn over with branches that trip up his horse and in- 
terfere with the plow, the amount of gain to the soil is so small 
that a few cart-loads of rotten sap and grass hauled from outside 
and spread around the orange trees would far surpass it. 

Altogether we cannot recommend this method, for we do not 
think the gain, even considering the small first cost at all com- 
mensurate with the "after-claps" of falling pines, smashed orange 
trees and the inevitable final clearing up of trash. 

Another, and better vray, is to hew down the trees, have rails 
split from all that are suitable for the purpose, then pile and 
burn the remnants ; this method costs for the clearing, from twelve 
to eighteen dollars an acre, according to the number of trees to he 
disposed of and the amount of "small deer" in the shape of 
small busbes, and young oaks to be grubbed up by the roots. 



WHERE TO PLANT. 



49 



But then the stumps of the pine trees remain in the ground, 
-and it is a sad mistake to leave them there, as so many do ; they 
are not only a constant eye-sore (that is the least of the objections) 
but no matter how often and how carefully the land is cultivated, 
these stumps scattered all over it, will harbor ants and weeds, 
especially that curse of a cultivated field in the South called 
"maiden cane" grass, which it is almost impossible to eradicate, 
once it is established, its roots run down to a depth of several feet, 
and every joint makes a new plant; for this enemy the pine 
stumps afford first-class rallying points; it is simply impossible to 
destroy it in a field where they are. 

And even if the maiden-cane can be kept at bay, as the or- 
ange trees grow larger, the pine stumps encroach upon the space 
they require, and by this time, when it is at least deemed advisa- 
ble to get rid of them, fully one-half will have to be chopped out 
laboriously, because the orange trees near them would be injured 
if they were burned out. 

Better, by far burn them out in the first place, and have 
your land smooth and clean, and no broken or crooked lines among 
your orange rows, because of stumps interfering with setting 
them out in their j^roper places. 

It will cost you fifteen or twenty cents apiece to do this, but 
it is cheaper in the end. 

A still better method, because cheaper and just as effective, 
is one that is more rarely practiced than the other two, only be- 
cause it is newer, and not generally known as yet in Florida. 

This is to dig a hole quite deep against one side of the pine 
tree, cutting off the large roots there and laying bare the tap 
root, and then build a fire in the hole beneath, and against the 
tree ; by keejoing the fire constantly smouldering, and in contact 
with the tap roop, the latter is burned off, and the tree, having 
thus lost its balance, topples over and comes crashing to the 
ground all at one time, and it only remains to burn the tree, fill 
up the hole, and the land is clear and smooth, ready for the plow 
for all time to come ; no falling branches or trees, no weed-gath- 
ering stumps. 

This method of clearing costs from twenty to thirty dollars 



50 



OEAXGE CULTUEE. 



au acre, not so mucli indeed, as just cutting and burning the 
tree.«. and then haying the stumps burned out. 

The laud cleared, plowing is next in order ; this can be done- 
at an expense of tliree dollars an acre, not a high charge for 
breaking new land, as it is no easy, or quick work, even in our- 
light Florida soil. 

Rails for fencing are split from the pine trees at a cost of a 
dollar a hundred, and it is well to have them split before the trees 
are burned, as among those cut down w*ouldbe many suitable for 
the purpose. 

Hauling the rails and building the fence i Virginia worm 
fence is the rule; will cost fifty cents a hundred; the total cost of 
inclosing one acre, elcTen hundred rails, will amount to sixteen 
dollars and fifty cents ; of five acres, between forty and fifty dol- 
lai*s. 

But however much or little the land may be cleared for a 
grove, or whether pine or hammock be selected, it should inva- 
riably be located near some assured and permanent transporta- 
tion facilities, either in the present or the near future, when the 
grove will have " come into profit." 

When groves are twenty or more miles from an outlet, and 
some verv fine arroves are thus situated, the haulino: bv wa^on is 
expensive and tedious, and the cause of great loss by bruising the 
fruii. so as to render it unfit for market. 

Also do not go too far north in the Staie, thinking that all 
places are equally favored for orange culture ; it is best not ta 
venture beyond the twenty-ninth degree. 

A good deal has been said and written about water protec-^ 
ti«jn. and there is no doubt that a location near to. and south of 
west of one of our large lakes is desirable. 

But the vicinity of the water does not always ward oti:' ft"OSt .\ 
it all depends upon how the frost approaches. 

A warm vapor always hangs over a large body of water, 
and if a cold north or north-west wind comes rushing across the 
placid bosom of the lake, it has force sufiicient to carry this 
warm vapor on with it, and by the time the south shore is reached 



WHERE TO PLANT. 



•11 



the captive airhiis raised the temperature of its captor by sev- 
eral degrees, so that its frosty quality is lost. 

But if the cold wave comes quietly and by stealth, as it 
were, and creeps slowly over the water, it chills the warm vapor 
and so reaches the south as cold as when it left the north shore. 

Besides this, it has been clearly proved that frost, like wind 
storms, travels in streaks, often with clearly defined margins, so 
that a grove that may escape one frost may be touched by an- 
other less severe, apparently "without rhyme or reason." 

And so, after all the best protection a grove can have is from 
a belt of timber land, either inclosing it entirely, or else guard- 
ing it on the north or west, since these are the quarters whence 
come the highest and coldest winds. 

This is a shield that can happily be obtained iu almost auv 
locality in Florida, for nearly CA'ery settler takes his land at first 
or second hand, and forest land still predominates throughout the 
State ; nowhere do we find immense contiguous tracts of land all 
cleared and under tillage as in the older settled States. 



CHAPTER \L 



BUDDED TREES OR SEEDLINGS? 

The former, most emphatically. 

Time was, and that only a few years ago too, when the ma- 
jority of growers favored the seedling tree, because it was said 
to grow larger, fruit more prolifically, and bear longer than the 
budded tree. 

But the tide of opinion has decidedly veered around now-a- 
days, as a greater degree of experience is gained and fuller 
scientific investigation brought to bear on the mooted question. 

Thomas Meehan, editor of the Gardners Monthly and 
Horticulturist, of Philadelphia, who is one of the recognized 
authorities on horticultural matters in the United States, tells 
us most decidedly, that budding orange trees does not dwarf 
them in the least, unless a dwarf scion is used, and this opinion, 
coming from such a source, should carry conviction with it, even 
if there were no other available testimony, of which, however, 
there is plenty. It is impossible to understand the foundation 
upon which the theory has been based, that by budding we sac- 
rifice size of tree and quality of fruit, for certainly experience 
does not demonstrate either of these charges. In the first place 
budding orange trees is comparatively a new thing with us all, 
while seedling trees date back for many years. Where a fair 
comparison between the trees is attainable, it is proved that the 
budded trees are fully as large as the seedlings of the same age. 

There is one thing that has probably misled many superfi- 
cial observers in this connection, and that is, that trees that bear 
early and continuously, as budded trees do bear, do not increase 
so rapidly in wood, year for year, as the tree's whole energy is 
devoted to making wood, but until the budded tree has become 
as large as a seedling bearing tree, and it will be seen that the 
after growth of the budded tree surpasses that of the seedling. 

Captain Burnham, of Indian River, tells us that his trees 

are nearlv all budded, except a few seedlings scattered here and 
52 



BUDDED TREES OR SEEDLINGS. 



53 



there in his grove, and these latter are decidedly smaller and 
less thrifty trees, though of the same age. 

In fact, the further one goes into the subject, the more 
majestically does the once maligned budded tree loom up and 
the seedling retire into the back-ground to be brought forward 
again simply as stock, in which character we have no word to 
say against them. 

Seedlings versus budded trees ? Why, the seedlings have 
no case at all. It has been proven that it does not grow larger 
or bear more fruit than the budded tree, and when we look at 
the question financially its case is more hopeless than ever. 

Why is it that we dig and delve and toil to make an orange 
grove ? Truly, that it may return our labor in good solid coin, 
and that as soon as may be. 

Did any one ever hear of a tree budded from a bearing one 
that did not fruit until it Avas eight, ten, twenty years from the 
bud? Yet the two first dates named are those the seedlings 
usually attain before they bear at all, while it is not uncommon 
for them to reach the age of fifteen and twenty years before 
bearing a single orange, and sometimes they are forever barren. 
Very few settlers there are, even with very limited means, who 
could not struggle along somehow, if their trees could be made 
to yield a small return in four or five years, but W^ho, if com- 
pelled to wait a return for ten or twelve years, would fall down 
worsted in the fight and suffer a financial shipwreck. In short, 
as a well-known orange grower emphatically asserts : 

"It is universally recognized that budding shortens the 
period before fruiting. Is not this, then, a strong reason finan- 
cially, why we should adopt the budded system? My own 
experience teaches me the necessity of budding. I can see no 
dwarfing tendency or results ; on the contrary, my budded trees 
are larger than seedlings of the same age, and "the fruit is cer- 
tainly as good. I have not been able to see that the production 
is fewer in numbers. I therefore give my unqualified opinion 
that it will not only pay to bud the orange tree, but that as 
intelligent men we cannot afford to do otherwise. 

There is also another strong argument in favor of budded 



54 OEANGE CULTURE. 

trees that we have not yet touched on. Years of experi- 
ence have taught every horticulturist that the attempt to 
produce certain varieties of fruit from seed almost invariably 
results in failure. The seed either produces an inferior fruit, or 
an entirely new variety, which once in a great while is a better 
article obtained than that which produced the seed, and before 
the result can be attained 5^ears of care and waiting must elapse. 
Every grower who has carefully observed the fruit produced by 
the various trees in a seedling grove cannot have failed to notice 
a great difference therein. Let the seeds that produced these 
trees have been ever so carefully selected, some of the trees will 
produce better oranges than others with the same care and treat- 
ment. 

In ow, this is not the case with budded trees. 

From the moment the first tiny little leaf starts out the 
germ of the future tree, its destined work is marked out and 
known. If a bud from a bearing Mediterranean Sweet, Navel, 
Homosassa, or Mandarin, is used, then we know what the bud- 
ded tree will bear, and thus ^\e not only secure beyond doubt a 
fine variety of fruit, but the identical variety we have selected 
as preferable. Surely this one advantage alone should be suffi- 
cient to tip the scale in favor of the budded tree. It is no slight 
thing to know for a certainty that, after several years' expendi- 
ture of care, money and patience, we have secured the most 
desirable varieties of fruit. 

Not many years since the sour orange was the favorite for 
budding stock ; of late, however, the scarcity of this tree has led 
to experiments which tend to prove that there are several kinds 
of stock to be preferred to the sour orange. There are several 
strong objections to this wild stock from the hammocks. First — 
and this is a very important matter — it is almost impossible to 
secure a sufficient quantity of roets in comparison to the size of 
the trunk ; again, they have grown up from seed to maturity in 
rich land, protected from sun and wind by the dense foliage 
around them, and when they are transplanted to a grove they 
suffer from change of habit. If they live at all, their growth 
is feeble and sickly. They will put out, perhaps, a few sprouts, 



BUDDED TREES OR SEEDLINGS. 55 

and then stand still for months, or even years, the vitality of the 
trunk being exhausted and the roots not having sufficient life to 
supply further nutriment. 

As an example, we give an instance of our own personal 
experience : Five years ago we set out a grove of sour stocks, 
taken from the hammock — to be budded in due time — on pine 
land, at an expense of one dollar each. A few of the transplanted 
stumps died almost immediately. The others lingered on, just 
alive, most of them too feeble to take a bud. After two years 
of lost time and patience, the majority were pulled up and thrown 
away, to be replaced by thrifty budded trees from the nursery. 
This year still more have been dug out in disgrace, while the few 
stumps that nourished their foster children, the sweet buds, are 
only now, after four years, beginning to make a respectable 
growth. 

Had these sour stamps been stock of the proper kind, they 
would have grown right along and accepted the bud in due 
time. The grove then set out would now have been a bearing 
one, beginning to pay back the money, care and time expended 
on it. As it is, four years are totally lost. So much for setting 
out the wrong kind of stock. 

The stock that is now coming into competition with the once 
universal sour orange, are lemon, lime, grape-fruit, and the sweet 
seedling. 

The three former are stronger growing trees than the latter, 
but this also is as thrifty as need be, and is becoming a great 
favorite with many growers. 

One of Florida's foremost nurserymen, Mr. A. G. Beach, of 
Palatka, takes a decided stand in favor of the sweet seedling 
for stocks ; especially, because in the event of a repetition of the 
frost of 1835, that killed orange trees to the ground, the sweet 
seedling sprouting from the ground would still bear a sweet 
orange without requiring to be again budded ; supposing, of 
course, that its roots had attained a bearing age. 

But what then ? The fruit would still be only a seedling orange, 
of no special variety, and more likely poor than good ; so that 



56 



ORA^sGE CULTUEE. 



budding would be just as desirable, for the same reasons, as it 
TV as at first. 

Consequently, wh^jle we acknowledge the sweet seedling to 
be good stock, we cannot admit that it would not require re- 
budding, the same as any other, in the event of its being killed 
to the ground. 

In consequence, the sweet seedling is preferred to any other 
stock, it having been shown by various experiments tbat it is the 
safest for the orange and lemon buds. Its roots are large, strong 
and healthy, and intended by nature to minister to the needs 
of a large, majestic tree. 

It is rarely afi'ected by the gum or any other root disease, 
and both orange and lemon buds have a close and strong affinity 
for this stock. The lemon also does well as stock for the orange, 
although some claim that here, as well as with the lime and 
citron, the stock exercises an influence upon the fruit, and it is 
apt to be coarse, flavored with a pungent acid flavor. These 
same growers admit, however, that the sweet orange, raised on 
lime, citron and lemon stock, is of larger size and in greater 
quantity than that raised from the orange stock. 

Of all the stocks named, the citron enjoys the least favor, 
and we think, deservedly so. 

The lemon seedling is a good thrifty grower, but will not 
thrive in so great a diversity of soil and situation as the others. 
The lime makes a strong, rapid stock, and will flourish with less 
care and in poorer soil than any of the others. Owing to its 
rather dwarfish habit, it would be better to bud it with one of the 
half dwarf varieties of the orange — such as the St. Michael or 
Mandarin — thus avoiding the danger of the top out-growing the 
trunk. 

The size and quantity of fruit borne on lime and lemon 
stock is largely increased over the original, but it is claimed by 
some that the quality is rather deteriorated. 

As, however, it has been proven by our most eminent bota- 
nists, that the stock does not in any way influence the character 
of the fruit borne by the scion, except in so far as a thrifty stock 
makes a thrifty tree, and vice versa, we cannot but believe the 



BUDDED TREES AND SEEDLINGS. 



57 



asserted effect of the lime and lemon on the orange as fanciful 
and not sustained by fact. 

The grape fruit germinates as readily from the seed as the 
sour orange and grows off as vigorously from the very first. It 
is as hardy as the sweet orange, is less subject to disease, and 
makes an excellent stock for the latter. 

In budding one's own nursery-raised seedlings, no matter 
what the stock may be, it is best to bud them in the nursery 
when the stock is one year old ; then, as soon as the bud shows 
it has taken, take up the trees careflilly and set them out in the 
grove, where they are to remain, for when you have your trees 
at hand it is better to get them out as young as possible while 
the roots are so small that it is easy to take them up without 
losing any, and thereby giving the tree a set-back. 

Do not cut back entirely until the transplanted tree has had 
time to grow. If all the trees in the nursery are not needed for 
budding at the same time, it is a good plan to bud alternate trees. 

Those that remain will have a space of two feet in which to 
grow another year, or the space thus left vacant may be filled in 
again with fresh stock from the seed bed. 

In buying from the nurseries, and this we would advise all 
to do who have not their own nursery, it is best to purchase 
stock three years old and one year bud. These trees are of a size 
that renders them easy to handle and set out and they grow off 
finely, being neither too old to lose many rootlets in the process 
of transfer, nor too young to bear a temporary cessation of growth. 

Trees such as these, of the best varieties grown, are to be 
had at fifty dollars per hundred ; trees of two years' bud, with 
stock of four or five years' growth, at seventy-five dollars, 
and a still larger size at one dollar each. When the sweet seed- 
ling is purchased for setting out in a grove, it should be not 
under three nor over five years for the best result to be obtained. 

Setting them out from your home nursery, it is better to put 
them out just as soon as they are a year old, putting stakes to pro- 
tect them from the plow and cultivator until they are large 
enough to take care of themselves. This precaution is, of 
course, necessary wdth the young budded trees as w^ell. 



CHAPTEE YIL 



HOW TO PLANT. 

The last thing before you are ready to set out your grove, 
is to have the ground thoroughly ploughed (this should not be 
the first time, however), for it is not well to plant trees in freshly 
ploughed land, as the soil is always more or less sour, and needs 
sun and air to sweeten it. 

If it is practicable to break up the land for the future 
grove several months before setting out the trees, and to plant 
and turn under a crop of cow-peas, with, or even without a light 
sprinkling of lime, so much the better, although this is not abso- 
lutely necessary. 

The ground thus prepared, the next thing in order is to lay 
it out in grove form. 

Supposing that your fences lay at right angles with each 
other, as they should do, this will not be a very difficult matter ; 
measuring the distance you wish the first row to be from a 
parallel fence, first at one end and then at the other of the pro- 
posed line, stretch a rope (or wire preferred) from a stake driven 
down at the point of measurement at one end, and to its corres- 
ponding stake at the other. 

Before this is done, however, tags at the desired distance 
apart should have been tied to rope, or wire, in such manner as 
to preclude their slipping out of place. 

Now, keeping your measuring cord tight, close do^vn to a 
stake at each of these tags; these mark the j)osition of the tap 
root of the tree. Now, whatever space you have chosen for your 
trees to set apart, as just staked out, whether twenty, twenty-five 
or thirty feet, measure this distance at a right angle for your 
first row, at each end ; remove your measuring line to these new 
points of departure, and drive down your stakes to mark the 
tags as before ; this gives the second row of trees. By adopting 
58 



HOW TO PLANT. 



59 



this simple and easy mode of measurement, crooked and irregular 
rows are avoided, and the grove thus laid out will present a 
regular and pleasing effect to the eye, and be much more easily 
cultivated than one whose trees are set here and there, irregular 
in distance and in line. 

The plow or cultivator can run much closer to trees that are 
set in a straight line, and very little work is left to be done by 
the hoe. 

There is great diversity of opinion as to the proper distance 
to set apart orange trees, and yet it is a question of vital impor- 
tance. We do not set out our groves for ourselves alone, but for 
our posterity also for generations to come. We should, there- 
fore, bring our best judgment to bear upon a permanent arrange- 
ment for the position of the trees. He who successfully brings to 
maturity a grove of orange or lemon trees is preparing a noble her- 
itage for his heirs, and his work should be well and carefully done. 

The trees look small and puny when first set out, but do not 
forget that they are imt there to stay, and that for years to come 
they will continue to increase constantly in size, until by-and- 
by the day will come when each of those trees will be forty or 
fifty feet high, with a trunk which two men with outstretched 
arms cannot entirely encircle, and with a fruitage of from five to 
ten thousand oranges. 

It seems incredible, does it not, that these little trees, many 
of them no thicker than your finger, should ever attain such 
a size? Yet others have done it, and these will do it in time; 
not in ours, perhaps, but in that of our children and our chil- 
dren's children. 

If the trees are planted too close, the grove will be dwarfed 
and almost wrecked, as the years roll on, until some day it will 
become imperative to remove a part of the trees, and unless this 
is done with regularity and the alternate trees taken out, the 
eflfect will not be satisfactory, and the whole symmetry of the 
grove destroyed, to say nothing of the loss of half the fruit for 
many years. 

There are two budded groves not a mile from the writer 
at this present moment, where ten or twelve years ago little 



60 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



trees were set out fifteen feet apart. To-day, many large bear- 
ing trees have had to be removed, and their profit lost for yeai^ 
to come, while in the other the sun never reaches the ground, 
and rain, only as it drops from and through the branches that 
closely interlock and dwarf each other. Until the alternate 
trees in this grove are removed it will never do half as well as 
if the trees had at first been placed at a proper distance apart. 
It will not be long before the owner of that grove will be com- 
pelled to thin out his trees. 

Another grove, too, we know of, where the wild trees, bud- 
ded where they stood, twelve years ago, are now crowding each 
other to such an extent, that the owners are about to remove a 
large number, although doing so will entail a loss of several 
hundred boxes for several years to come. 

Now, these are things that " try men's souls," yet they have 
to be done, sooner or later, when the grove is originally set too 
close ; hence the importance of judicious spacing when first 
planting. There are still a few growers Avho recommend plant- 
ing in squares of fifteen or eighteen feet, but many have gone to 
the other extreme, and advocate squares of thirty feet, or even 
forty feet. 

The great majority, however, have paused half way, and 
consider from twenty to twenty-five feet the best spacing for the 
orange or lemon grove, and undoubtedly they are in the right. 
Such a distance apart gives the trees ample room to spread and 
yet wastes neither land nor labor. When there is, or likely to be, 
superabundant moisture, plant the trees twenty-five feet, to give 
the sun a better chance to reach the ground. On high lands, set 
your trees at twenty feet. And now, the ground prepared and 
spaced off, you are ready to dig your holes. The depth and diam- 
eter of these will depend on the size of your trees. Give plenty of 
room, and do not crowd the roots, or curl them up. Throw the 
top soil to one side, the sub-soil to another ; if you have well- 
rotted stable manure, compost, muck, or commercial fertilizer 
ready, mix it sparingly, half with the sub-soil, half with the top. 

The removal of the tree from the nursery to the grove is not 
the simple thing many conceive it to be — that is, if it be properly 



HOW TO PLANT. 



61 



done. Let your trees be improperly handled whilst being du^ 
and set out, and if they grow at all, it will be a sickly, stunted 
growth, that will be a perpetual reminder to their owners of the 
old and truthful adage, " whatever is worth doing, is worth doing 
well." 

The work of taking up and transplanting trees whose roots 
are chiefly fibrous, like those of the citric family, is one requiring 
time, care and patience. Don't try to do too much at one time, 
or you will repent it. 

In digging trees, preserve every root and rootlet that is pos- 
sible, if they are to be carried to any distance, or kept for several 
days out of the ground. It will pay well to puddle the roots — 
in other words, dip them in a paste made of clay and sand, made 
just thin enough to let the finest rootlets be plunged in it without 
breaking, and yet thick enough to cling to them like a close fit- 
ting garment. Koots thus protected, put away in a shady place, 
and watered so that they do not get dry, Vvill keep in good order 
for two or three days. 

Under no circumstances must the tender rootlets of the 
citrus family be permitted to dry ofi' during the interval between 
digging and planting, for being evergreens, they dry off very 
quickly, and nothing can ever revive them again. Never let 
the sun touch them. 

In packing for shipment the roots should be thoroughly 
enveloped in damp moss, straw, or grass, and in conveying in 
wagons, even a short distance, damp Florida moss should be 
thrown over them. Take them from under this shelter one by 
one, as you are ready to plant them ; never drop them ahead of 
the w^orkmen. 

The soil should be damp, both when the trees are taken 
from the nursery and when they are set out. If, in ordering 
them from a distance, they arrive in a dry time, place the roots 
in water for twelve hours before planting, and use water freely 
when setting them out. 

In planting, the hole should be slightly raised in the center, 
sloping downward toward the sides ; then, with a small spade or 



62 



ORANGE CULTUEE. 



a pointed stick, make a hole in the middle of the mound for the 
tap-root, and just here is an important item. 

The tap-root — it does no harm if it is cut partially away — 
should rest in the hole thus prepared for it, to such a depth as 
will bring the top lateral roots of the tree about an inch above 
the ground after the soil is all filled in around the tree. 

Too much caution cannot be exercised about this, for if the 
tree is set too deep, it wdll be a long while, perhaps years, before 
it wdll flourish, for it will be compelled to send out fresh surface 
roots to take the place of those so carelessly smothered from the 
air and warmth by too deep planting. 

Remember that freshly plowed land is always raised several 
inches above its general level, and also that trees always settle 
after being planted from one to tw^o inches, according to their 
weight. Therefore, let the u^^per roots, where they stand out 
from the stem, be in full view after your work is done, then you 
are assured it is well done. 

Before the tree is placed in the hole, trim off with a sharp 
knife all the bruised or broken roots and cut back the tree 
severely, then push the tap-root down into the hole prepared for 
it, pack the top earth you have thrown out around it, spread 
out the lower layer of lateral and fibrous roots, holding out of 
the w^ay the upper roots, pack down the soil firmly on them with 
your hands, spread out the upper layers and pack the earth 
firmly on them with your feet, pour on a half pail of water, when 
that has had time to settle, spread the sub-soil around the tree 
and level off the ground, and that completes the operation. 

A day or two after the trees are set out, examine them and 
see if any of them need straightening, also if any of the holes 
need more filling. Trees should be pruned a week or two before 
removal from the nursery to enable them to recover from the 
shock that is always attendant upon severe pruning. For at 
least several months after planting the trees should be mulched, 
in order to prevent the possibility of the upper rootlets becoming 
dry before they have had time to establish themselves in their 
new quarters. 

We may have seemed tedious and unnecessarily minute in 



HOW TO PLANT. 



63 



treating of this matter of " how to plant," but the experience of 
all orange growers teaches that the most critical period in the life 
of the tree is that in which it is moved from the nursery to the 
grove, and in the manner in which that is done depends its after 
career for better or worse. 

The following table will be found convenient for reference 
in laying out a grove and in ordering trees : 



XUMBER OF TREES IX SQUARES PER ACRE, 



20x20 feet 
25x25 " , 



108 trees. 



70 
48 

35 



30x30 " 
33x35 " 



CHAPTER VIIL 



HOW TO CULTIVATE. 

Under this heading we come to the most vexed question 
among the many that perplex the orange grower. Doubtless 
twenty years ago, before orange culture became an estab- 
lished industry, the few men who counted a small number 
of thick trees among their possessions, deemed that they knew 
all about their culture. 

But now-a-days the orange grower is fain to confess that 
there is much yet to learn in his business, and that time and' 
experience are still required before the best results can be cer- 
tainly obtained. 

One lesson, at least, has been brought home to every orange 
grower, and it is one that all new-comers should heed, since 
second-hand experience is cheaper than that paid for out of one's 
own pocket, and this is, that when an orange grove is the Alpha 
and Omega, the sinew and back-bone, of a Florida home, it must 
be treated as such. 

Who would think of embarking in any commercial business, 
stocking one's store, for instance, and then going off here and 
there, leaving the business to take care of itself and the stock at 
the mercy of thieves ? 

Yet such a course would be quite as sensible as that pur- 
sued by those who set out an orange grove, and then leave it 
uncared for, save, perhaps, by a semi-occasional plowing ; which 
is given more in the interest of corn, cow-peas, or some such 
crop planted among the trees, than in that of the latter them- 
selves. 

Those who have bought their experience personally have 
waked up by-and-by to the fact that all the time spent in wait- 
ing for the trees to take a start while being treated in this shabby 
manner, is just so much time lost. 
64 



HOW TO CULTIVATE. 



65 



The orange will bear a great deal of harsh treatment and 
neglect, without actually dying, but it will not thrive, nor come 
quickly into profit, unless it is carefully tended and nurtured^ 
just as one would look after any other business that he expected 
to be profitable, or to become his future support. 

But as we have just said, how best to accomplish this desirable 
result, is a much vexed question, for the calling, being a compar- 
atively ncAV one, there are almost as many systems put forward 
as there are orange growers ; and between them all, the new- 
comer cannot but become bewildered and confused. 

A great deal may be learned by comparing methods and 
results in one's own neighborhood, finding out who has failed 
and who has succeeded, and the cause which led to each result, 
and then guiding one's own course accordingly. 

The advocates of scant cultivation, once a numerous body, 
are becoming fewer and fewer, as time proves that there is no 
tree or plant that will respond more generously than the orange 
to thorough cultivation. 

" Let the weeds and grass grow in the grove and plow them 
under two or three times in the course of the season," used to be 
the text preached to the novice and practiced by the old system 
grower. 

This is the plan still followed by some, but the majority 
have come to the belief that the plow should not be allowed 
at all in a grove that is bearing or nearly approaching it, for 
by this time the ground will be closely matted with roots thrown 
out by the trees, and as the majority of these are surface roots, 
the plow will tear and loose them, and thus by the old method, 
" two or three times in a season," the trees were rudely deprived 
of a portion of their food caterers, and their growth checked, 
while Dame Nature paused to replace the fibrous roots thus 
torn away. 

So the turn-plow should be banished from the bearing 
grove, and in fact, from every grove, after the trees are half- 
grown, and a single thirty-two inch sweep used in its place. 

Many use the cultivator and harrow^ but the sweep is better 
than either. It is more uniform in its depth of cutting than 



66 



ORAJfGE CULTURE. 



either the plow, cultivator or harrow. It cuts off weeds under 
ground better than the two latter, and taken altogether, it does 
better and cheaper work in a grove free from stumps, and better 
than any other implement we know of. 

The ground throughout the grove should be kept level, 
and the surface stirred with sweep or cultivator every two weeks, 
to a depth of no more than three inches, as far out as the roots have 
extended. Each time the cultivator or harrow passes through 
the grove it should be followed by the hoe, not only to cut 
down all grass and weeds, but to draw any soil that may 
have been thrown against the trunks of the trees, or piled up on 
top of the crown of the lateral surface roots. 

We have in a previous chapter referred to the importance 
of allowing the crown of these roots to be level with, or slightly 
above the surface of the ground, and now refer to it again 
because it is a point, the why and wherefore of which is but little 
understood or heeded, even by those growers who are esteemed 
most intelligent and wide awake to the best methods of 
culture. 

If the crown of these laterals is left a little above the soil 
when the young tree is set out, as nature intended it to be, they 
will develop very rapidly, and as these are the main channels 
for conveying food and drink to the inner parts of the tree, the 
importance of this point is readily seen. 

It is exactly on the same principle that we draw away the 
earth from around an onion to hasten the growth of the bulb, 
and everywhere among the forest trees we see Dame Nature em- 
ploying this method to brace and strengthen their growth. 

As a general rule, clean culture gives the best results, where 
the ground is dry and rolling. When it is low and damp, allow- 
ing it to grow, cutting in once or Uxice in the season, and leav- 
ing it to decay on the surface, is the better plan. 

The former is the best for new pine lands, the latter for wild 
hammock groves, although circumstances may, in individual 
cases, modify these rules, but, generally, they hold good. 

We know of a pine land grove, where for several years 
grass was allowed to grow, and three or four times in a season 



HOW TO CULTIVATE. 



67 



plowed under, the trees did not grow well, or bear well. They 
became sickly, insected, and the oranges rusted. Then clean 
culture was tried, and a cultivator passed through the grove ev- 
ery two weeks, from January to October. It was curious to see 
how those trees brightened up under what was evidently congen- 
ial treatment. 

Before one season was over they started to grow vigorously, 
throwing out thrifty shoots from top to bottom, the insects disap- 
peared, the trees lost their sickly yellow look, and joyously donned 
their wonted dark green livery, and the fruit was large and fine 
and bright. 

Another instance we know : a wild hammock grove, where 
clean culture was practiced for several seasons, the trees, hitherto 
healthy and in vigorous growth, drooped, turned yellow, became 
the prey of insects, dropped their oranges, and seemed likely to 
die. Then the owner stopped plowing and cultivating, allowed 
the luxuriant grass to grow at will, and when it became too 
rampant, had it cut and left it where it fell. Almost imme- 
diately the drooping trees lifted up their heads, the insects fled, 
and to-day, when the ground has not been stirred for more than 
two years, this erewhile sickly grove is one of the finest and most 
beautiful sights to be seen in Florida. 

And just here we see why it is so difficult to lay down a 
given rule as a safe guide in all circumstances for the would-be 
orange grower to follow. 

It is emphatically true in orange culture, ?tS in many other 
things, " that circumstances alter cases." 

While the trees are young, and their roots extend over but 
a small portion of the ground, it is a good plan to cultivate the 
grove as a vegetable garden, in this manner : The fertilizers used 
for the latter do double duty, as any surplus left by the vege- 
tables goes towards enriching the land that by-and-by will be in- 
vaded by the hungry army of orange rootlets, the green stuff 
also that remains after the crops are gathered, supply a very nec- 
essary element to the successful grove, namely, vegetable humus. 

During the first two seasons, when the trees are only four or 
five years old, the vegetable rows may approach the trees within 



68 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



four feet, but every year afterwards the distance should be 
increased one foot, until the cultivation of vegetables finally 
ceases, and the orange rootlets run riot over the whole grove, 
revelling in the rich soil that has thus been prepared for their 
coming. 

It behooves every orange grower to keep his eyes open, to 
read, to watch, to observe not only his neighbor's methods and 
experiences, but also to note the results of his own work, and 
alter his course if it seems likely to wreck his particular barque. 



CHAPTER IX. 



MULCHING AND PEUNING. 

In the question of "Mulch or not to Mulch," we come on 
another disputed point. Some advocate mulching orange trees, 
both old and young, advocate it most emphatically ; others op- 
pose mulching at all, just as vehemently, while others again say, 
"Mulch young trees, and those just set out, for a year or two, 
but never mulch otherwise." 

Who is right, and who is wrong? No doubt, in this as in 
other questions where opinions differ, there is some right, and 
some wrong on all sides. 

Taking it altogether, however, there is much more to be 
said in favor of mulching than against it. Its opponents are in 
the minority now, and likely to become still more so as time rolls 
on and brings greater experience in orange culture. 

In one of our most reliable agricultural works we find the 
following concise declaration as to what mulching does : " Mulch- 
ing holds moisture in the soil and retains the atmospheric ammo- 
nia, breaks the force of the rains, and thus prevents the ground 
from being baked ; prevents also the soil from freezing so easily 
as when exposed ; prevents rapid thawing during the heated sea- 
son, and cools the earth : these are the principal advantages to be 
derived from mulching, and yet they are sufficient to make any 
farmer think favorably of it." 

And we will add, not only farmers, but especially orange 
growers, mulching their trees, has been practiced by our oldest 
growers, and the fact that they still continue the practice, speaks 
volumes as to the result of their years of experience. 

The objections made to its use by some are, that it tends to 
increase the surface roots, and increase the liability of them to 
injury from frosts. 

69 



70 



ORAjfGE CULTURE. 



The first of these statements is true — mulching does produce 
more roots at the surface ; but what then ? 

It is to these very surface roots that the citrus family is in- 
debted for its chief supply of food ; these are the main purvey- 
ors of the tree, the large roots serve as anchors and canals through 
which nourishment is conveyed, but the tiny, fibrous roots that 
creep here, there, and everywhere, are ever on the look-out for 
food supplies, and where they find it most abundantly, there 
they go. 

They seek shelter and warmth, beneath the shelter of the 
mulch they always find it ready for them. The warmth they 
might have had without the mulch, but not the moisture. The 
more of these surface roots there are the better ; as the orange is 
a surface-feeding tree, and as the mulch rots away, a rich vegetable 
mould accumulates around the tree, which is of immense benefit. 

A grove w^here the trees are well mulched does not need 
half so frequent cultivation as one where the ground is left en- 
tirely bare. Whatever j^ortion is kept covered by the mulch is 
kept free from weeds and grass, the ground is rendered porous 
and friable, and the roots which w^ould be near the surface, even 
without the mulch, are protected from their greatest enemy, 
drought, very effectually. 

Some advocates of mulchino; o-o so fiir as to recommend shad- 
ing the entire surface of the grove, ^ow this is profitable under 
some circumstances, where the trees are large, and shade a good 
portion of the ground by their foliage, so that the mulch need 
only cover the intermediate spaces, but when the trees are young, 
it would require so great an expenditure of time, labor and'money, 
as to be almost impracticable. It is all-sufficient that the ground 
be covered to a depth of several inches, leaving a bare space of 
about a foot around the tree. The mulch should extend about 
two feet beyond the outer roots. This is very important. Never 
allow the mulch to touch the trunk ; it will soften and rot the 
bark, and encourage insects to settle around it. 

We have not yet touched on the second objection of the 
anti-mulchers — that " of increased liability to frost." 



MULCHING AND PRUNING, 



71 



In reply to this, we give an extract from the report of one 
of our well-known Florida growers, and another from a promi- 
nent planter engaged in orange culture at Pass Christian, Mis- 
sissippi. 

The Florida man says : ''It has been urged that mulching 
makes the orange tree tender, and more liable to freeze. Believ- 
ing a statement of this kind, I was kept from mulching for three 
years, and then I only began by, the trial of a few trees at first. 
I am satisfied, by careful experiments and observation, that no 
harm can come to trees on that account if properly applied. 
Old trees and young trees — trees just set out, and trees bearing 
five hundred oranges each — have been alike benefited. Trees 
that were mulched during the freeze of last winter, came out of 
it much better than those that were without mulching ; and now, 
during the present dry weather, while other trees are becoming 
yellow and curling the leaf at mid-day, the mulched trees retain 
a dark green, healthy color, and are growing right along." 

So much for our Florida witness ; now for the voice from 
Pass Christian. "My grove of five thousand trees escaped very 
serious damage during the severe cold of two seasons ago. I at- 
tribute this exemption to a thorough mulching of the soil, which 
protects them from the intense heat of summer as well as the cold 
of winter." Surely the experience of these two men should count 
for something, especially when in almost every paper we glance 
at we see notes, here and there, showing that others have made 
the same discovery. 

Altogether, mulching bids fair Jo play no unimportant part 
in the future of orange culture. 

The least expensive way of mulching is to spread dried or 
partly decayed vegetation (no woody fibres) around the trees in 
the way we have already mentioned, several inches deep, a foot 
from the trunk and two feet beyond the outer roots — grass, weeds, 
leaves, straw, pine needles, well-rotted sawdust, bagasse ; all these 
are good, and always to be had in quantity, merely for the labor 
of gathering them. When the mulching becomes thin, as it will 
in time, when the lower portions decay and work down to feed 
the little rootlets, replace it, and at the same time enlarge its 



72 



OEANGE CULTUEE. 



area, remembering that the trees are growing all the time, and 
their roots reaching out farther and farther. 

A top dressing of lime, ashes, or potash will hasten the decay 
of the mulch. It is, at the same time, of great benefit. 

It is wonderful how a tree thus treated will flourish, even 
when it has been in poor condition up to the time of applying 
the mulch. An instance in point is that of a bearing grove when 
the oranges were dropj^ing off, the leaves yellow, and the trees 
sickly. At this juncture the owner caused two cart loads of 
mulch to a tree to be spread on the ground, so that the entire 
space between the trees was covered, at a cost of twenty-five cents 
per load. In tvro weeks the oranges ceased to dvoip, the leaves 
went back to their healthy green color, and the trees bristled 
with new growth. It was two years before the mulch had to be 
renewed, and in all that time neither the expense of hoeing or 
cultivating the grove had to be met, the mulch keeping the 
ground moist and friable, and choking out all weeds. 

There is a mode of mulching that we have not referred to, 
that is well worth general adoption, combining as it does the 
double benefit of mulching and green manuring. 

This is, to remove carefully the loose earth from the roots 
of the trees to as great a depth as is practicable without injuring 
them, then to fill in level with the ground the mulching mate- 
rial, which in this case should be grass, weeds, cow peas, or other 
green stufi'; sprinkle with lime or ashes if handy — it will do 
without, however — then tramj) it down, and throw on top the soil 
taken out. This retains the moisture, hastens decay, and absorbs 
gases that would otherwise escape. It is mulch and manure at 
the same time. 

The question of pruning is one about which there is little 
controversy — less so, perhaps, than any other one point in orange 
culture, though even here there are some who difier from the 
great majority. 

Of all domesticated fruit trees, the citrus family requires the 
least pruning; some say none at all,but experience teaches otherwise. 

Pruning is one of nature's great laws in the vegetable king- 
dom. Look at our forest trees. In their youth their branches 



MULCHING AND PRUNING. 



73 



are low on the trunk, they are needed then to shelter the ten- 
der stem from sun and rain. As the tree grows older these 
first branches drop off, leaving the stem clean and graceful. 
Dame Nature has pruned them. When a branch dies by-and-by 
it decays and falls to the ground ; it is useless, so that too is 
pruned away. Look at the young pine-trees, their branches are 
low and sweei3 the ground, but the matured trunk rises eighty 
feet in the air without a single branch. 

Never use a dull knife, saw, or shears in pruning a tree ; 
the sharper the tool the better. 

It is always best to use shears on the smaller branches rather 
than the knife, the latter being apt to slip and tear the bark. 
"When the knife must be used, however, let the cut be upward 
rather than downward, as this lessens the danger of damage to 
the limb. Bear in mind that a rough haggled cut does not read- 
ily heal, and very often never heals, thus injuring the tree per- 
manently, and for this reason when large limbs have been sawed 
off, the cut should be pared smooth with a knife, and then cov- 
ered with thick shellac varnish, or grafting wax to exclude sun 
and rain until healed, otherwise disease may be communicated to 
the whole tree. 

All water-sprouts — that is, sprouts starting near the ground — 
should be pinched off as soon as they appear. They are robbers 
of the legitimate branches above them. Watch carefully for dead 
limbs, and cut them away as quickly as possible, taking a por- 
tion of the live Avood with them, to be sure that none of it 
remains. " Once upon a time " it was thought that though a 
dead limb was unsightly and useless, it did no actual harm, 
but it has recently been proven otherwise. A dead limb not 
only evaporates the sap that should go to the nutriment of the 
tree, drawing it up by capillary attraction, like a sponge, but 
the elements of decay it contains flows back into the tree and so 
promotes disease ; therefore, never let a dead limb remain to 
counteract all your good works. 

Some branches there will be, not dead, but diseased, so 
that they either develop no leaves, or else sickly ones. Let 
these be pruned away also for the same reason. 



74 



OEAXGE CULTURE. 



Do not trim tlie branclies up high on the trunk ; encourage 
low growth, especially while the trees are young. This is Na- 
ture's plan for protecting the tender bark from the sun, and should 
not be interfered with. As the tree grows taller, cut away the 
branches gradually, until when the tree is in bearing, you can 
just get under it by slightly stooping, but can stand upright 
against the trunk. 

The most successful groves and the healthiest trees are those ' 
w^here the lower branches, when laden Avith fruit, barely escape 
or even touch the ground. 

Keep an open head to the tree, so that the sun and air can 
reach freely to all parts, leaving the most vigorous lateral 
branches, and cutting away the weaker ones. 

Xever allow your young trees to become matted Avith 
branches inside, so that the trunk cannot be seeu. Sooner or 
later they will crovN'd each other so much that you will be 
compelled to cut them out, and then all their vigor of growth 
will be just so much vitality thrown away. Better keep the head 
o'pen from the start, and allow no such wastage of time and thrift. 

By pursuing this course systematically, by the time the 
tree is ready to bear, it will be in fine shape — " a thing of beauty 
and a joy forever." It will then need very little after-pruning, 
except to clear out dead branches. 

If you have set your trees twenty-five or thirty feet apart 
keep the tops low to facilitate gathering the fruit ; if, however, 
they are set only twenty feet ajoart, higher tops will be desirable, 
since the ground must not be too densely shaded by the foliage. The 
orange is emphatically a child of the sun, and will not thrive unless 
sun and air can circulate freely about and above its roots. 

Prune in the spring, in January, February, or March. 
Fall or winter pruning is apt to be injurious, as promoting new 
growth at a season when growth should be checked. 

Whenever possible, cut away the large thorns, that not 
only makes gathering the fruit a slow and delicate operation, 
attended with torn flesh and clothes, but punctures the oranges 
when swaying in the breeze, and thus renders them unsalable. 



CHAPTER X. 



HOW TO FERTILIZE. 

This is a subject of great importance, and one that it 
behooves every farmer and fruit grower to study closely. It is 
the corner-stone of his prosperity, the back-bone of his wealth. 

There are many commercial fertilizers in the market of 
approved value, and it is well to use them in conjunction with 
home-made manures, when one has the means to do so. 

But scarcely one in ten of the embryo Florida orange grow- 
ers is able to procure these, and so his chief dependence is on 
the home-made compost heap. 

This is by no means a despicable resource, as we shall 
presently see ; in fact, there is ho excuse for any man in Florida 
who owns a horse and cart, for not having an abundance of valu- 
able fertilizer for his trees, at merely the expenditure of time, 
the light labor of collecting trash, and hauling it home. 

The man who has not the means to purchase the needed 
food for his trees, and yet has no great heaps constantly prepar- 
ing for such, is simply a lazy man, and not such as will ever 
work his way to better times, even in Florida. 

We do not need to discuss the question of applying commer- 
cial fertilizers, as each manufacturer publishes his particular 
directions, and these should be followed in each case. 

For ourself, among many good fertilizers (Mapes & Stock- 
bridges, for instance), we regard that already referred to in a 
previous chapter, " Gould's Fertilizer and Insect Exterminator," 
as pre-eminent for the orange grower, inasmnch as it is manu- 
factured in Jacksonville, and thus can be, and is sold cheaper, 
because there is no freight to pay from the north ; but also 
because it does drive away and kill the insect enemies of the 
tree, while also ministering to the appetite of its hungry little 
rootlets. 

75 . 



76 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



In forming a compost heap, the farmer should bear in mind 
the particular purpose to which it is to be applied, since neither 
all trees nor all crops take kindly to the same sort of food. 
There is as much difference, comparatively, in the food of the 
different members of the vegetable kingdom, as there is in that of 
the animal. A horse will not eat flesh, nor a dog hay ; neither 
will all trees flourish on the same nutriment. 

Every intelligent horticulturist is aware of this fact, and 
acts accordingly, being guided in the application of manures by 
the analysis of the ash of such plants and trees as they cultivate. 
It is on this principle and on this basis that the " special ma- 
nures " are manufactured, each containing the j)articular ingre- 
dients needed by the particular plants to which it is intended to 
be applied ; one may need a larger amount of ammonia that the 
soil naturally furnishes, another more phosphates, another more 
nitrogen. When these special fertilizers are made by honest 
manufacturers, they are very valuable aids to the farmers and 
fruit growers, either used alone, or mixed with the compost heap. 

Analysis shows that the ash of the orange tree and fruit 
contains a larger percentage of potash, lime, and phosphoric 
acid, besides smaller quantities of other mineral ingredients ; 
hence these are substances, conjoined with sufficient vegetable 
matter to retain moisture, that the orange grower must feed to 
his trees. 

And now, how are these to be obtained? Easily, and by 
every man who chooses, for they are all about him in profusion, 
needing only to be vitalized by a provident, thrifty hand. 

Pine land, on which the bulk of the orange fruit is raised, 
is deficient in vegetable humus, which is as necessary to the 
proper growth and nourishment of the tree as any other ingre- 
dient ; perhaps, more so, since this humus has proven to be the * 
most important vehicle of assimilation of the other foods; for 
instance, the analysis of a soil may show lime to be needed, and 
lime is forthwith applied, and without effect ; but, powerless to 
work alone, combine it with humus, which, as every one knows, 
is simply decayed vegetable matter, and then its effect will be 
quickly visible. 



HOW TO FERTILIZE. 



77 



Here is one of the many proofs that there are two distinct 
classes of manures — one serving as the actual food of plants, the 
other assisting in preparing that food by combining with the 
substance in the soil and bringing into a form that the plants 
can assimilate, or by changing such as would be inimical to the 
vegetable life and for its mediation. 

Thus, for instance, when we apply lime to a newly broken 
piece of land v/hich is mucky, we say that the lime has " sweetened 
it," because its action on the carbonic acid contained in the muck 
is such as to change by combination that which would other- 
wise be hurtful to vegetation, and to transform it to a valuable 
manure. 

Every orange grower should prepare a compost heap as one 
of the very first steps to successful cultivation. 

Make a pen of any desired size with posts for the corners, 
boarded sides, and a tight board floor for convenience in filling : 
it is well to have one side made so that the boards can be added 
or broken away at will ; two perpendicular strips at each end, 
with space between to allow the boards to move up and down, 
will be found very handy. 

The tight board bottom is very important, o.s it saves all the 
liquid manure that would otherwise wash down in the ground 
and be lost ; but even more so is a roof to cover the compost 
from the destroying eftect of the sun, and also to shecf heavy 
rains, at least partially. 

No thrifty or intelligent man will allow his compost or stable 
manure to be exposed to the sun and rain, knowing as he does, if 
he have any ordinary knowledge of his business, that fully two- 
thirds of its value is thus wasted. A pile of stable manure or 
comjDost leached by sun and rain is a pitiable spectacle of slov- 
enly farming, and the man who pursues this method may be sure 
he will never prosper, no more than the man who leaves his 
store open for thieves to enter and carry off his most valued 
stock-in-trade. 

The compost pit prepared, the first thing to do is to put on 
a layer of muck about six inches thick, or if muck is not to be 
had, grass, weeds, sawdust, pine needles, pine burrs, rotten sap- 



78 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



T\-ood, and dead leaves will answer almost, if not quite, as well. 

This supj)lies the humus element of plant growth, next a 
laver of cotton seed,, costing ten cents per bushel at the gin-mill, 
or fourteen cents delivered within three miles. This is a valuable 
fertilizer, especially so when thus composted, and contains four 
per cent, of nitrogen, three per cent, of potash, and three per 
cent, of phosphoric acid — a ton of the seed being worth seventy- 
two dollars as manure — another layer of muck, then one of stable 
manure, another of green trash with muck again ; these thor- 
oughly wetted at the time of piling, and worked over once or 
twice, will in three months' time furnish the thrifty orange grow- 
ers with as hue a fertilizer for his trees as any money could j^ur- 
chase, especially if some days before applying to the trees his 
means permit him to whiten the land ^ith lime or ground plaster. 

The cajDabilities of a compost heap are, in fact, almost un- 
limited ; it is a take-all, and hold-all receptacle, of which, one 
may truly say, all is fish that comes to its net. 

Nothing that is subject to decay comes ami.ss — rags, old 
clothes, old shoes, old newspapers, trash of all sorts, kept moist 
wuth liquid manure, or house slops, etc., will in a few months be- 
come useful and available plant food. 

Every animal that dies on the farm should be dismembered 
and buried deep in the compost to join a valuable element there- 
of^ — lirtfe, land plaster, ashes, poultry guano — all these add vastly 
to the supply of plant food furnished by the compost ; but be it 
known and heeded that ashes and poultry guano should never 
be mixed, as the ammonia of the former will thereby be liber- 
ated; neither should lime and stable manure be composted to- 
gether, for the same reason. 

Land plaster may, however, be fi'eely used with great benefit, 
especially when applied directly above a layer of either guano 
or stable manure, as it prevents their ammonia from escaping. 

AVhere one can afibrd to purchase bone-meal, making sure 
that it is genuine, it will pay liberally to apply light layers of it 
to the compost heap. 

A few years ago the relative value of bone-meal and stable 
manure was tested with the following results : 



HOW TO FERTILIZE. 



79 



1st. One bushel of crushed bone is moi'e than equal to 
twenty- five bushels of good farm-yard manure. 

2ud. That bone-meal is more permanent in its effects than 
any putrescent manure usualh' produced on a farm. 

ord. That its effects on good land is more manifest than on 
interior. 

4th. That when combined with putrescent manure, or com- 
posted, the effect, both instant and remote, far exceeds that of any 
inanure known. 

About twenty years ago a Mr. Bonner, of the State of iSTew 
York, patented a process of quickly rotting manure, which was 
tested with great success, the manure being ready for use in 
fifteeen days. The patent expired long ago, but the process has 
only lately been made j^ublic, and is now open to all, and should 
be generally adopted, as the expense is yery trifling, and the la- 
bor of handling no greater than any other compost. 

At the foot of the pen should be a vat, or hogshead, partly 
sunk in the ground for conyenience sake, of a capacity of six or 
seyen barrels. 

Into this yat all the soap-suds, house slop, drainage from the 
barn-yard, etc., are to be poured. If it takes too long to half fill 
the yat in this manner, fill in with water, or, better still, with 
liquid manure, two pails full of stable manure to one barrel of 
water; let it stand twenty-four hours before using. AVhen the 
yat is fi^om one-half to tvro-thirds full, add the following mix- 
ture : 



Unslacked Lime , two bushels. 

Soot two bushels. 

Salt four pounds. 

Saltpetre two pounds. 

Unleached Ashes two bushels. 

Land Plaster fiye bushels. 

Condensed Manure, such as Hen Guano, 

Priyy Manure, or Bought Fertilizers three barrels. 



These amounts are sufficient to decompose one ton of dry 
wash, or ten tons of green stuff, and of course can be easily reduced 
in quantity when desired. 



80 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



Mix these ingredients with the water, adding the lime, 
ashes, and land plaster last of all. 

Place in the pen a layer of muck, dirt, or sawdust, about 
three inches thick ; then add the materials to be rotted, straw, 
grass, leaves, sawdust, etc. ; wet them thoroughly with the liquor 
from the vat, well stirred before using; then add another layer 
of muck and wet that, and so keep on, alternating muck and 
trash until the pen is full, wetting each layer as you proceed. 

Your pen should have a roof, as stated elsewhere ; and this 
is a very important matter, and one especially insisted on by Mr. 
Bonner in his patented formula given above. 

Repeat this wetting every four or five days, first making 
holes with a crow-bar Avorked back and forth, and then pouring 
the liquid from the vat freely over the whole pile. 

In fifteen days the manure will be in perfect condition, well 
rotted and fine ; heat will be generated in one week, and should 
it seem too great, may be moderated by the use of water. Do 
not be sparing of the liquor at the time of first piling the heap. 

In this formula, it may be noted that substances known to 
be antagonistic are brought together — ashes and hen guano, lime 
and stable manure — yet here their mutual destroying propensi- 
ties are conquered, and in achieving this desirable result lay Mr. 
Bonner's patent. 

Let us look into the chemical action that takes place 
among these various materials, and see how he explains it. 

The fermented liquor starts the heat, assisted by the lime. 
The lime being a hydrate is caustic, and a re-arrangement of the 
particles takes place, owing to the eagerness of the lime for car- 
bonic acid, which is generated immediately the heat begins. 
Ammonia is formed from the ingredients of the heap, but first 
from the liquor in the vat. The formation is also hastened by 
the lime and potash ; the saltpetre also liberates nitric acid. 
Ammonia, though gaseous, exerts a mysterious effect of its own 
in the heap, and greatly assists decomposition. 

But it may be asked w^hy the lime and potash do not set the 
ammonia from the heap. Such would be the case in an ordinary 



HOW TO FERTILIZE. 



81 



barn-yard heap ; but here the process of decay progresses under 
different conditions. 

First, the heap is kept wet with the liquor, as the wetting 
occurs every few days ; second, the muck, sawdust, and other ab- 
sorbents are a protection. Water absorbs and retains ammonia, 
and the rotting of the heap is so rapid, and the chemical changes 
are so numerous, that it is finished before an escape can be 
made. 

At the end of fifteen days, as we have said, fermentation 
ceases, and then the mass should be overhauled, well mixed with 
dry earth, muck, or sand, and put away under shelter, which 
will prevent its heating again, and preserve the volatile matters 
until ready for use. So thorough is the fermentation that it 
would be a difficult matter to create heat again, even if desired. 

The utility and economy of this process consists in the con- 
verting of leaves, corn-stalks, cotton-seed, rotten sap, etc., into 
ready-made manure. All seeds are destroyed by the process, so 
that any noxious weed may be fearlessly cast into the heap ; 
bones broken into small pieces will be dissolved at once, and be- 
come valuable plant food. 

A compost made by this formula is not only ready for use 
in so short a time, but its value is double that of ordinary stable 
manure, and contains all the elements of plant food. 

And all this valuable fertilizer can thus be made at home by 
Bonner's j^rocess, at a mere nominal cost of five dollars per ton. 
This is the ne plus ultra of compost heaps. 

If the soot called for in the formula cannot be obtained, use 
more saltpetre ; if ashes, turn up missing, substitute ten pounds 
of caustic potash ; and remember, never to leave the pile uncov- 
ered. Nor, we may add once more (for this cannot be too strongly 
impressed on the fruit grower), any other manure heap if its full 
value is desired to be j^reserved. 

A word or two about the best manner of preserving stable 
manure while collecting : nine out of ten of the Southern farm- 
ers stable their horses in stalls with the ground as the only floor- 
ing. This is a great mistake, and occasions a waste of the most 
valuable portions of the manure, the liquid, or urine. 



82 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



In a valuable little book, called " Talks on Manure,'' by- 
Joseph Harris. He tells us that one ton of stable manure con- 
tains only twelve pounds of nitrogen, six pounds of phosphoric 
acid, and thirteen pounds of potash, and these are its only ele- 
ments of practical value. Think of it, out of two thousand 
pounds of matter, only thirty-one pounds of manure — all the rest 
waste ; and here is the plan Mr. Harris proposes (and has proven 
for years to be all that he claims) for increasing the j^roperties 
of the proportions of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, and 
reducing the amount of waste to be handled. 

Instead of throwing the manure out of the stables, and put- 
ting it in piles to be leached and sun-dried, keep it when it drops ; 
keep the stable well littered with straw, grass, pine-needles, and 
sawdust, which answer the double purpose of making good beds 
for the animals to lie on, and of absorbing the liquid manures 
and the gases of the other fermenting excrements. The urine of 
domestic animals is worth much more than the dung, and this I 
have found the best and cheapest way of j^reserving it. Keep a 
good supply of " trash" on hand, and every two or three days, as 
the stalls become foul, cover them with a fresh layer. 

Let it stand during the whole season, and in the spring have 
it out and distribute it. The whole mass will be decomposed and 
comparatively dry. 

One load of such manure is worth half a dozen that has been 
made in the usual way, and all the labor of repeated handling 
will have been avoided. 

We have now said quite enough to prove one assertion a 
while ago, that there is no excuse for any man in Florida, who 
can procure the services of a horse and cart, for not having a 
sufficiency of fertilizer for his grove. 

If he has no horse of his own, it would be an easy matter to 
go out in the piney woods or hammock, rake up a number of 
piles of trash, and then hire a horse and cart for a day to haul 
them to his compost pen. 

In applying fertilizers to trees, the latter should be treated 
rationally. A surfeit of rich food w^ill derange the animal sys- 
tem, and so it will the vegetable. Too large quantities of ma- 



HOW TO FERTILIZE. 



83 



iiures — rich in nitrogen, for instance — will cause die-back and 
fungoid diseases. 

While the trees are young, and in rapid growth, they will 
bear heavy manuring, just as a growing child will eat more in 
proportion than an adult ; but if the system of high manuring is 
continued after they have arrived at the bearing age, eight or ten 
years, it will almost invariably retard their fruiting, as too rich 
a soil gives a tendency to make wood rather than fruit. 

Therefore, after the seventh year, the quantity of manures 
applied should be gradually lessened, and only enough used to 
keep the tree in a healthy slow growth condition. 

In manures for young trees, nitrogen should be present in 
larger quantities than for bearing trees, the latter requiring more- 
potash, jDhosphoric acid, lime, and other kindred manures. 

Yellowish leaves indicate a deficiency of nitrogen in the 
soil ; dark green leaves show^ that there is plenty of it. 

An ex-nitrogen attracts the rust insect. Slack lime is a 
good remedy, scattered on the ground and sifted through the 
leaves. It is better to use this before the trees comence to 
bloom and when the leaves are dry. 

When the clay is five or six feet, or more, below the surface, 
so that manures are liable to be washed down below the roots, 
three or four light manurings — one in January, another in 
March, another in June, and last in August, are better than one 
or two heavy manurings. The first should be heavier than the 
rest, however, as tending directly to help the latest buds and 
young fruit. Liberal manuring early in the spring as possible — 
and by this we mean the Florida spring, which begins in Jan- 
uary — conduces to a larger and finer fruit crop than can be 
attained when this is neglected. Frequent experience has 
proven this as an invariable rule, other things being equal. 
When clay is within three or four feet of the surface, two heavy 
applications of manure — one in January and the other in July — 
are all that is necessary, the clay serving as a base to retain it 
until the roots can assimilate it. 



CHAPTER XL 



E>^EMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 

So much has been said and written about the diseases of 
the orange tree, that one might think it one of the most delicate 
and cruelly afflicted trees in the vegetable kingdom. 

For instance, there are no less than sixty insects that prey 
on the apple tree, twelve on the pear, sixteen on the peach, seventeen 
on the plum, thirty-five on the cherry, and thirty-one the grape. 

And yet we have heard orange growers grumbling over the 
constant fight against the insects that attack their trees. To such 
we commend a glance at the above host of enemies upon which 
the northern fruit growers are waging constant and not always 
successful war. Many of these are borers, and their work is 
done in secret, and in an almost impregnable fortress ; whereas, 
an orange tree has no borers, all its foes being open and above 
board, and hence easily detected and conquered. 

The renowned scale insects are the most injurious, and before 
the best means of fighting them was discovered, did much dam- 
age to the trees and threatened a wide spread destruction to the 
orange interest in Florida, when it first appeared in the State, 
which was at Mandarin, about twenty years ago, being carried 
there on orange trees brought direct from China. 

It may seem surprising that from a few trees, and from one 
grove, this minute enemy of the orange tree should have spread 
all over the State, and that, too, in a very short time ; but when 
one comes to consider the matter, it is not so wonderful after all. 

For one thing, there are are several small beetles, and some 
large ones, found in all our groves, that feed on the scale, or 
coccids, and as the latter are very minute and are often seen to 
mount on the backs of their unconscious enemies, they are thus 
carried by the beetles from tree to tree, and also from grove to 
grove. 
84 



ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 



85 



Again, the shrike, or butcher-bird, dearly loves to select the 
long, sharp thorns of the orange tree, on which to impale hia 
victims, insect, lizard, or small snake, as the case may be. 

He prefers trees that have long branches, and these are the 
very ones, as a rule, that are most thickly infested by the scale 
insects, especially the long scale. 

In impaling his prey on the thorns, the bird moves his little 
claws freely over the branch, and some of the insects clinging 
to it are sure to adhere to them, when he flies off to another 
tree or grove, and the scale is rubbed off and finds a new field 
for its work. The butcher-bird also frequently transfers his 
impaled victims from one tree to another, and if the first has 
been infested with the scale and the second has not, the latter 

cannot much longer boast of its freedom ; and even when the 
bird eats his prey from the thorn on which it was first impaled, 

some of the scale insects, that are certain to adhere to it, will 

cling to his beak, and more likely than not, be rubbed off on 

some other tree. 

We have a friendly feeling for the butcher-bird ; he is such 

a neat, Quakerish-looking, fat, chubby little fellow, and so 

familiarly saucy withal ; and we are sorry we cannot acquit him 

of helping to spread the enemies of our groves, albeit he does it 

without malice prepense. 

High winds are also important and wide-spread factors in 

the distribution of scale insects, all of which are small and light ; 

nursery stock and matured fruit itself are also active agents in 

the matter. 

What is this much talked of, much fought against, scale 
insect, you ask ? 

For full and detailed information on this point, as on that 
of all the insect enemies and friends of the orange, we would 
refer our readers to the valuable work on " orange insects," 
written and published by William H, Ashmead, of Jacksonville, 
Florida ; and also .to those of Prof. Comstock and Dr. C. J. 
Kenworthy. This book, being devoted exclusively to the one 
subject, deals more extensively with the enemies of the orange, 
than the limits and object of our present work permit us to do. 



86 



ORAKGE CLTLTURE. 



Briefly, therefore, we will note the most injurious of them 
only, that they may be recognized when seen, and the proper 
weapons used in the battle against the invaders. 

The long, or mussel-shell scale insect, is a very tiny fellow, 
rarely to be seen, unless revealed by a powerful microscope; 
then it appears like a very lively louse, quick and active in its 
movements, and when alarmed, instantly seeking concealment 
under the scale it has created as its dwelling, w^hich has first 
served as a home for its eggs, which are purple and laid in two 
parallel rows, and then for its young. 

The latter, the moment they emerge from the eggs, begin to 
suck the sap from the bark or leaf to which they may be attached. 
One would hardly think that such a tiny thing could do so much 
damage to a noble tree ; but the trouble is in their number, 
which is legion. At length, from under the scale-dwelling, 
emerges a little fly that may be seen, sometimes, if one stands so 
that the branch on which they are is between him and the sun, 
when the latter is low on the horizon, and then jars the tree. 
They will then scurry around and become visible through their 
movements for three or four days around over the tree, then insert 
their beaks in a suitable spot and come to an anchor forever. 
In a few days the waxy substance of which their scale-house is 
composed begins to arch over their backs ; their legs, useless 
now, drop off*, and the fly, reversing completely the order 
©f things, returns to a larval shape, lays its eggs and dies ; 
soon the eggs hatch and the round of reproduction begins 
again. 

There are several kinds of scale, but all are to be plainly 
seen on the leaves, twigs, and even on the fruit. All are ene- 
mies to the tree, and all may be killed by the application of the 
remedies given at the conclusion of the present chapter. 

The white scale is the most noticeable, its color and the 
large size of its scale-house, in comparison with that of the mussel- 
shell scale, just described, making it very conspicuous. 

The scale is highly arched, and of a pinkish-white at 
maturity, with seven well defined dots, three on each side, and 
one at the posterior. Just before the eggs hatch, the scale 



ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 87 

becomes more globular in form and the top takes on a brown tint. 

The insect, which is pale yellow, and looks under the 
microscope like a wood-louse, crawls about for a few days, then 
strikes its beak into the bark, and the waxy scale begins to 
form. This completed, the eggs are laid, over one hundred in 
number. 

Mr. Ashmead, in his work already referred to, makes a 
calculation of the progeny of one of these scale insects, for 
one season, and it amounts to the frightful total of one million. 

If it were not for that Providence which is ever watching 
and planning for man's welfare, his fight against the spread of 
these destructive insects would be an almost hopeless one ; but 
he is not left to battle single-handed. Even the most minute 
insects have their relentless " war of races," and thus the scale 
insects have enemies, who, had they happily been imported 
into our country at the same time, would never have allowed 
them to spread far and wide and create the panic they did 
among orange growers. 

Chief among these staunch friends of the orange tree, are 
the orange scale aphelinus, the twice-stabbed lady-bug, minute 
scymnus, red mite and orange chrysopa. 

The first-named, the orange scale Apelinus, is a four-winged 
fly, about 0.2 of an inch long ; it lays one egg under each scale 
among the eggs of its foe, and as soon as the larva, which is a 
white footless grub, is hatched, it begins to feed on the latter, _ 
changing into its pupa state only when the last egg is gone ; a 
few days later it punctures the top of the scale, and emerges in 
its perfect fly-shape. 

The next of our good friends, being more noticeable, is ofteUj, 
alas! ruthlessly slaughtered for an enemy by those who, if they 
knew its true character, would carefully protect it. From Feb- 
ruary to November in this State one O^ten sees a little round, dark 
bug with two red spots on its wings, and also a dark slate-colored 
larva, crawling among the orange trees. They are one and the 
same insect, the twice-stabbed lady bug, and it is so valuable a 
friend to the orange grower, as to be worthy of importation to 
any grove where they have not voluntarily settled. 



88 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



They breed throughout the year, and in the fall lay their 
eggs where the scale insect is most abundant ; then, when their 
eggs hatch, the dark spine-like larva at once commence feeding 
on the scales around them ; soon they cmwl off to a retired spot, 
affix themselves to a leaf or branch, and become pupte, which, in 
a few days again, change to a soft pale-colored beetle, without a 
sign of the spots and dark wings shortly to appear. 

If there is any Spanish moss on the tree, the larva will be 
found there in greater numbers than elsewhere. 

The minute scymnus, large scymnus, and red orange mite, 
are so small as to be rarely observed by the naked eye, and hence 
need no description here, as they are exposed to the same danger 
of destruction by those they serve as are those heretofore men- 
tioned. 

The two former are beetles, whose larva, hatching in the 
spring at the same time with the scale insects, wage relentless 
war upon them. 

They come in April and disappear in June, to reappear 
when the great fall broods are hatched. 

The orange Chrysopa is another most helpful friend ; it is a 
small, lace-winged, yellowish green fly, much resembling a tiny 
dragon fly ; its eggs are suspended on a delicate thread to the 
orange leaf, the larva covers itself with minute pieces of dried 
leaves or bai'k, feeding on the scale inside until the time comes 
for it to form an oval mass-like cocoon on the ujDper j^art of the 
leaf, whence in a few days the perfect fly emerges. 

The blood-red lady bug is also an exceedingly active helper 
to the orange grower, devouring the scale insects by the million ; 
the pupa emerges from a gummy substance attached to a leaf, 
and becomes a perfect beetle (red) without spots or markings. 
We have been thus particular in describing^ the appearance of 
these little friends of ours that they be recognized as such, anc 
their lives spared; other friends the orange tree has besides, bu' 
we have not space to enumerate them. 

The mealy bug is one of the most serious enemies, not only 
of the orange, but of the pine-apple, and if not relentlessly fought, 
threatens to become a worse enemy than the scale. 



ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 



89 



It makes no scale shelter, is even moving about, and places 
its eggs beneath a cotton-like substance. In twelve days they 
hatch, and the young begin their career of destruction, sucking 
the juices from the tender leaves and twigs, the odd mealy sub- 
stance from which they take their name, forming meanwhile all 
over them. They increase very rapidly, breeding all the year, 
and seem to defy any wash that does not contain kerosene ; this, 
however, is fatal to them. 

The leaf-footed plant bug is another destructive foe to the 
orange, and also to the plum, rice, and many other vegetable 
productions. 

The young are a bright yellowish red, without the leaf-like 
extension to their legs that afterwards appears. The adult is a 
curious shaped reddish brown bug, having a long sharp beak, 
and a transverse yellowish white band across its wings ; w^hen 
the latter are raised, its back is seen to be flat and hollow, red in 
color, with black spots ; its hind-legs are oddly shaped like nar- 
row leaves. It sucks the sap from tender shoots and terminal 
branches, thus killing them outright. 

Mr. Ashmead gives the only remedy known, of catchiag 
them in a butterfly net and scalding them. 

Grasshoppers and katydids are also destructive foes to orange 
trees, devouring leaf after leaf in an incredibly snort time; their 
quick, active movements make them hard to deal with, and the 
best-known weapons with which to fight them are the birds and 
a flock of chickens, and guinea fowls in the grove. 

There is a large, beautiful butterfly that may be seen every- 
where in Florida, from early spring to winter ; it is black, with 
two yellow bands across if^ wings, formed by a series of yellow 
spots. 

Under the rule of "Handsome is as handsome does," the 
)range grower has reason to consider this beautiful insect as 
lideous, since it and the orange dog, or puppy, are identical. 

"Whenever you see a little round egg sticking to an orange 
leaf, crush it at once; the' orange butterfly has laid it there, and 
directly it will become a peculiarly marked worm, with a large 



ORANGE CULTURE, 



head, from which it projects red filaments, and opens its large 
mouth like a snarling dog when disturbed. 

Until within the last year or two there were various opin- 
ions about the cause of the rusty appearance of so many Florida 
oranges ; now, however, no doubt remains on the subject. It is 
caused by a minute insect, called the rust mite, that would never 
have been discovered but for the microscope being applied to the 
orange while still on the trees, for within half an hour after the 
fruit is taken from its parent stem every insect has disappeared. 
The mite punctures the oil cells, the oil exudes and becomes 
oxidized, and hence the dark appearance and hard, rusty skin 
of the fruit. 

This appearance damages the sale of the orange, but does 
not impair its quality ; in fact, it appears rather to develope its 
saccharine qualities. Place before a Florida child two oranges, 
one bright, one rusty, and it will seize the rusty one first. The 
rusty orange, protected from the air by its hard dry skin, ships 
much better than the bright; and, so, if it were not for the dam- 
age done to the looks, and hence to the sale of the fruit, there 
would be little fault found with the mite. 

This one consideration, however, is enough to cause war to 
l)e declared against it ; but, fortunately, remedies have been found, 
to which we shall presently refer. 

One other insect we shall mention, because it is very easily 
^een, and its destructive operations openly conducted right under 
one's eyes — he is a bold, fearless marauder. Professor Riley, of 
t^e Agricultural Department, calls him Euthodha galeator. 

He resembles greatly the well-known squash bug, and de- 
lights to insert his strong proboscis in the tenderest shoots to be 
found, causing them to wilt and droop to their death, even while 
he robs them of the food on which they live. 

The insect is one of the chief causes, if not the chief, of tB& 
so-called disease of die-hack. 

We have now described, so far as the limits of our present 
•work wall permit, the chief enemies and friends of the orange 
tree, and will now proceed to give the most effective weapons 
with which the former may be conquered. 



ENEMIES, AXD HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 



91 



It is not enough to know the formulas of washes to be ap- 
plied to the trees, but also at what time the application should 
be made to be effective. 

Let us take the long or mussel scale insect at first : the first 
brood hatches from the middle of April to the first week in May ; 
the second, from the last of July to the middle of August ; and the 
third and last, from the last of September to the middle of October. 

The white scale has also three broods : the first, in April 
and May ; the second, from the middle of July to the 1st of 
August ; and the third, from the last of August to the second 
week in September. 

He who waits until this protecting shield has been reached 
may as well spare his labor, for his most powerful washes will 
fail to penetrate it, or to disturb the insect. Applied at the right 
time, however, as given above, just after the eggs are hatched 
and the fly has left the scale-house, it is easily exterminated. 

When trees are very badly infested, it is wtII to cut off and 
immediately burn the smaller limbs ; then, with a fountain spray 
pump, drench the tree thoroughly with one of the preparations 
given below. 



Dissolve the soap in a little boiling water, place it in a tight 
barrel, break up the soda in small pieces, add it, fill up barrel 
with soft water, and stir the mixture till well mixed. Keeps 
good indefinitely. Apply to trunk and large branches with a 
brush, rubbing in well ; drench top and leaves with a rose 
syringe. Apply twice a year, spring and fall ; oftener if the 
grove is seriously infested. 



FOR SCALE INSECTS. 



No. 1. 



Sal Soda, 



10 pounds. 
. 5 " 
.40 gallons. 



Hard Soap, 
Water 



Xo. 2. 



Tobacco Stems 
Copperas 



Water. 



, 5 pounds. 
5 " 
40 gallons. 



92 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



Boil tobacco in sufficient water to extract the full strength, strain 
and measure liquid ; put in a barrel, and add enough water to 
make up the forty gallons ; then add the copperas, and stir till 
dissolved. Apply as before stated. 

Ko. 3. 

Whale-oil Soap 10 pounds. 

Kerosene Oil 5 gallons. 

Water 5 " 

Common soap will do just as well, if the other is not to be had. 

Dissolve the whale-oil soap in hot water, then add the kero- 
sene, churn them together until well mixed. For use : add one 
quart of the emulsion to two gallons of water. Apply as before. 

This preparation is destined to supersede the lately discov- 
ered " kerosene butter," made by combining condensed milk and 
kerosene, as being much cheaper, quite as effectual, and much 
less labor to prepare. It does not injure the most tender shoots, 
and kills the scale at once ; is also a valuable fertilizer, and as it 
falls back from the leaves and sinks into the ground, drives away 
the ants and other insects that may be in hiding around the tree. 

No. 4. 

Cotton seed hull meal or ash ; syringe the tree with water, then 
throw up the ash into the tree. 

This is effectual for small trees, but not so good on large, be- 
cause the upper limbs are apt to escape. 

FOR THE MEALY BUG. 

The formula given as No. o is the safest to apply to the bug, 
as the other washes seem to injure it very little, if any ; kerosene 
will destroy it. 

FOR THE RUST MITE. 

Any of ' the above, but especially No. 2, will check their 
Avork if applied early, as soon as the first signs of them are de- 
tected ; but the best and the most permanently effective treat- 
ment is slaked lime, dusted into the tree as thoroughly as may 
be, and scattered on the ground as far out as the roots extend. 

Whether this application kills the insects, or whether the 



ENEMIES, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM 



98 



additional amount of carbon thus furnished to the tree takes 
from the essential oil of the orange that quality which attracts 
the rust mite to it, is not yet determined, but it suffices that the 
effect is undoubted. It has been proven both in the West Indieg 
and in Florida. 

LICHENS, SMUT, HONEY DEW. 

For ridding tree trunks of lichens and old half-loose bark, 
for removing smut and that sticky substance, the excrement of 
insects, called honey-dew, formula 'No. 1 is very effectual, used 
with a scrubbing brush on the tree trunk, for lichens and old 
bark, and with the hand-pump for smut and honey-dew. 

ORANGE PUPPY. 

As a rule, this worm, to which we have already alluded as 
identical with the large butterfly, is not seriously aggressive, and 
can be kept down by hand picking, because its numbers are not 
great in any one grove, except in some few cases ; the mocking- 
birds, woodpeckers, and butcher-birds proving excellent reme- 
dies against its alarming increase, where, however, it becomes sq 
troublesome as to really injure the trees by robbing them of their 
foliage ; drenching the tree with lime-water will prevent the 
mother butterfly from depositing her eggs among them, as n© 
butterfly will light on a plant syringed Vvith lime-water. 

DIE-BACK 

Is, as we have noticed elsewhere, caused by the attack of ia- 
sects that kill the terminal branches and young shoots as fast as 
they appear. Kow, with every new shoot its corresponding rootg 
die also; and so, er-e long, the whole tree feels the loss of its need- 
ful nutrition, and twig after twig, branch after branch dies back, 
often puzzling the owner to determine the trouble. 

Chief among the insects that have been proved at last to be 
cause of the trouble, are the leaf-footed plant bug, and the 
Euthodha galeator, which, not being stationary, are hard to rout, 
but may be driveij away by several drenchings of No. 3 ; but the 
tree must be carefully pruned of every dead or sickly limb, or 
even, if necessary, its whole top cut away to give the few roots 
left alive a chance to recover their vigor 



CHAPTER XII. 



GATHERING AND PACKING. 

It is a proud and happy day to the orange grower when he 
gathers in the first golden herald of the good time coming, and 
thus receives the glad assurance that the reward of his years of 
toil and patience are close at hand — that the night is past, and 
the dawn of prosperity is near. 

It is not every one who knows how to gather and pack his 
croj) so that it will reach its distant market in good order, and 
yet this point is so important, that if not properly understood, it 
matters not how full a crop the tree may yield, since the fruit , 
will yield no profit, but rather loss, since freight must be paid, 
whether the fruit will sell for enough to cover it or not. 

This matter of proper shipping is a rock on which many a^ 
goodly barque, sailing out into the world with fair hopes and 
prospects, becomes an utter wreck. 

And the worst of it is, that such shipwreck as this, at the 
last moment, is caused almost invariably by culpable carelessness 
on the part of the owner of the fruit, whether he does the work 
of picking and packing with his own hands, or trusts it to hired 
help, who have no interest in the well being of the crop or its 
ultimate fate. 

As soon as the oranges begin to show by their yellow tinge 
here and there that ripening has commenced, the trees should be 
examined every two or three days, and all speckled or defective 
fruit taken off, the ripest first. This serves two purposes : first, 
such fruit is always the earliest to ripen, and if carefully handled 
and shipped, it will pay well to send it forward while the market 
is comparatively empty ; second, the removal of such defective 
fruit, wdiich will only get worse if left on the tree, will benefit 
the fruit remaining. 

Step-ladders are usually employed in gathering such oranges 
94 



GATHERING AND PACKING. 



95 



as cannot be reached from the ground, as it is almost impossible 
to find a secure resting place for an ordinary ladder, and besides, 
it is constantly catching of side limbs. 

Better, however, as well as cheaper than either, is another 
sort of ladder, which may easily be made by any one, out of 
materials nearly always to be found " lying around loose " 
on the farm. The steps are made of strips three inches wide 
about fourteen long, nailed at proper distances apart, on a plank 
two inches thick and from six to eight inches wide. 

This simple ladder is easily handled and rests securely on a 
limb, where the ordinary ladders would shake back and forth, 
while the projecting side-pieces, or steps, serve a useful purpose, 
when it is desired, to hang the bag or sack of the picker on 
them. 

This bag, its mouth held open by an oval piece of wire, 
should not be too deep, nor too large ; if the former, the first 
oranges picked are apt to be bruised in dropping ; if the latter, 
the bag will interfere with the picker's movements, and will 
become too heavily weighted to be carried with easfe, no matter 
how broad the band that secures it around his shoulders. 

The orange should never, as is too often done, be pulled 
from the stem, as this rude severing almost invariably tears the 
skin and " plugs " the fruit, which is then unfit to be shipped, 
since it will surely rot on the way and damage the whole box. 

A sharp knife, or small shears, are the proper things to use, 
and the stem should be so clipped that from one-eighth to one 
quarter of an inch remains on the orange. 

If the oranges are of different varieties each kind should be 
carefully kept by itself. 

As soon as a cart load has been picked they should be 
hauled away to the packing-house, and if this is any distance 
from the grove, or if the road, though short, is rough, moss 
should be placed at the top and sides of the cart to avoid bruising 
the fruit, for the orange, when just " under ripe," as it usually is, 
and should be when picked, is plump and solid; the skin is 
composed largely of water, and if its tiny cells are bruised and 
broken, decay at once sets in. 



96 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



Every shipper should have a house or room set apart for 
curing and packing the fruit. 

There are two methods of preparing it for shipment, of 
which the old method, which is termed sweating, would seem the 
very worst treatment to which it could be subjected, and we 
believe it to be so, and to have caused the loss of thousands of 
dollars to Florida orange growers. 

As we have said, the skin of the newly-plucked orange 
contains a great deal of water, and before packing it for ship- 
ment, we want to get rid of this surplus element of decay. 

In order to accomplish this desirable result, it used to be 
the universal custom, and one that is still too much in vogue, to 
put the oranges in a large heap and cover them with blankets^ 
leaving them thus for several days, until they had undergone a 
sweat, a number being rotted and crushed by the process, and 
the inevitable germs of decay generated in many others. 

Those that appear sound after this ordeal are spread out for 
a day to dry, and then shipped, almost invaria})ly to be reported^ 
" arrived in bad condition." 

Who can wonder ? They have been coaxed and encourged 
to decay before their journey was commenced, by having their 
tender skins heated, steeped in moisture, and their cells crushed 
by pressure. 

A far more sensible plan of curing oranges and lemons is 
that adopted by the more progressive growers. 

Around on the walls of the well ventilated room or house, 
shelves should' be made as deep as one's arms can conveniently 
reach across, the first shelf about two feet from the floor, and the 
others about one foot apart. 

These shelves should be composed of narrow slats, two 
inches apart, their edges carefully rounded off, to avoid bruis- 
ing the fruit, and one of the slats placed on edge at the front to 
prevent the fruit from rolling off. 

When different varieties are to be gathered, separate 
shelves should be set apart for each kind, the name being placed. 
in a conspicuous position, that there may be no mistakes made. 

The oranges should be gathered on a clear, dry day, after 



GATHERING AND PACKING. 



97 



the dew has dried off of them, and arranged carefully on the 
shelves, one tier deep only, and not pressing against each other. 

Here they remain from four to six days, or longer, if desired ; 
when the skin feels dry and firm they are ready for sorting and 
packing. 

No one who has tried the drying process, as above, will any 
longer feel a doubt as to its infinite superiority over the old 
method of sweating. The last method toughens the skin by evap- 
orating in a quiet, natural way, the watery fluid. The sweating 
causes a heating, fermenting action, totally opposed to nature, that 
expands the cells of the skin, and at once starts a decay, which 
very often does not appear outwardly until the orange is many 
miles on its w^ay to market, and thus the fruit arrives in bad 
condition, very likely does not even pay expenses, and then the 
grower tears his hair, and more than half the time blames the 
transportation companies (who have sins enough of their own to 
carry), for what is entirely due to his own ill-advised treatment 
of his luscious fruit. 

A plump orange, in good order, as when picked from the 
tree, may be laid away in a dry, well- ventilated place, and will 
keep good for mouths in perfect condition, its skin finally shriv- 
eling and hardening, yet the fruit remaining juicy and sweet ; 
but place alongside of it one that has passed through the sweat- 
ing process, and very soon it will soften and become a decom- 
posed mass of pulp. We have tried both processes, and " know 
whereof we speak," as do hundreds of others. In the light of 
this new process of curing oranges the old method of sweating 
will quickly become obsolete, and when all our growers awake to 
this truth, and also to the fact that our golden fruit can be kept 
for months in perfect order for shipment, if only proper care is 
taken in the gathering and handling, so that no bruise shall 
start decay before the aqueous fluids have evaporated. When 
they awake to these things then will thousands of dollars be 
saved to them annually. 

Impress on all who are employed in gathering the fruit 
that now, when it is plump and full of moisture, the least fall or 
blow will be the signal of decay. An orange will bear five 



98 



OKAKGE CULTURE. 



tiraes as hard usage after drying as when fresh from the tree. 

The operations of sorting and packing are, as we have inti- 
mated elsewhere, of so vital an importance to the grower, as 
affecting his profit or loss on his entire crop, that if he is unable 
to perform them with his own hands, he should at least attend 
them personally, and keep his eyes wide open. 

Oranges of one kind and one size should go in one box ; 
not all sizes mixed together, as we have often seen. 

After being assorted, not only with regard to size, but also 
as to bright or rusty, or half rusty, each orange should be wrap- 
ped in a square of the manilla paper that comes prepared for 
the purpose, already cut in graded sizes for wrapping the 
various grades of oranges. 

This paper can usually be obtained from the nearest store, 
l)ut always at Jacksonville, as can also the boxes for packing. 
These last contain tw^o cubic feet, inside measurement, with a 
middle division. They are delivered to the purchaser unmade, 
the various j)ieces being put up in bundles, ready for nailing 
together. 

In making these up, one side, rather than the top, should 
be left off for greater convenience in packing the fruit, which 
should be in layers, close together, so they will not shake about. 
The top layer should project from a half inch to an inch above 
the box, that when the side is nailed on it will press down 
firmly, and so tighten the whole box, and prevent jarring, even 
after the fruit has shrunk, as it will, inevitably, before reaching 
a distant market. 

Be extremely careful to throw aside every specked or defect- 
ive orange ; two or three in a box will ruin the whole lot. 

Let the oranges in every box be, as nearly as possible, of 
uniform size, color and texture. 

The boxes containing large, fair, smooth-skinned fruit, 
should be marked No. 1, large; coarse fruit, No. 2, large; next 
size, with smooth, bright skins. No. 2, small. Rusty oranges, 
or half rusty, should be marked No. 2, large, or No. 2, 
small, as the case may be, with the word rusty or half rusty, 
affixed. 



GATHERING AND PACKING. 



99 



The number of oranges should always be plainly marked on 
the box, and each shipper should have his own stencil brand by 
which his fruit may be known at a glance. 

When he has made a reputation among the dealers for 
good packing and a uniform quality of fruit, as marked on the 
l^oxes, he will then find no difficulty in obtaining the best prices 
for his crop, as his brand will be sought for and picked out by 
those who are willing to pay for honest fruit. 



CHAPTER XII 1. 



ABOUT VARIETIES. 

In selecting the best varieties of orange trees for a grove 
there is more need for the exercise of sound judgment. Some 
oranges ripen early ; others, late in the season. The fruit of some 
trees is large ; of others, small ; of some, rough-skinned ; of othei-s, 
smooth. 

The point is to select such as will come into market at the 
best time, and such as will present the most attractive appear- 
ance. 

The first object may be obtained by planting a number of 
the earliest and latest ripening varieties, that may be placed on 
the market just at the time other oranges are scarce, and there- 
fore bringing the highest prices. The second point is met by 
having the fruit of medium size, or rather over medium size, and 
the skin smooth. 

A grove of trees one-third earliest, one-third medium, and 
one-third of the latest maturing sorts, will bring in its owner 
much larger profits than one where the trees have been selected 
hap-hazard, without any regard to the two important points just 
mentioned. 

The first among early oranges is 

beach's no. 1. 

This is a very sweet fruit, of a rich high flavor, is nearly 
round, and has a very dark orange color skin ; it stands shipping 
finely, and has no equal as an early orange. Time of ripening, 
from September 15th to October 1st. 

beach's no. 2. 

Is above medium size, rather pear-shaped ; eating qualities 
same as above; is a fine shipper. Ripens November 1st. 
100 



ABOUT VARIETIES, 



101 



CHARLEY BROWN, 

Is of excellent quality ; a strong rapid grower ; nearly 
thornless; greatly flattened at stem and blossom ends; circum- 
ference very large. Kipens in October and November. 

ST. MICHAEL- 

A tine, delicate-flavored fruit, pear-sliaped, of a pale yellow 
color, thin skin, and medium size ; one of the earliest to fruit 
for budding ; is very prolific, so much so, as in many cases to 
dwarf the tree. Ripens in October and N^ovember. 

beach's no. o, 

Has a peculiar tender pulp ; pleasant acid when ripe ; a fa- 
vorite sort; size, medium; color, light orange; shape, flat from 
stem to blossom end ; a fine shipper. Ripens in December. 

Extract from the report of the Pomological Committee of 
the Florida Fruit-Growers' Association for 1878 : "After com- 
paring and testing, in the most tliorougli and impartial manner, 
a large number of varieties, your committee feel warranted in 
recommending for general cultivation the following : Homosassa, 
Magnum Bonum, and Nonpariel. 

" homosassa. 

" Size, medium, somewhat flattened, very heavy ; color 
bright, skin remarkably tough and dense, but one of the thin- 
nest ; pulp fine, sweet, vinous flavor, 

"magnum bonum, 

" Size, large to very large, flattened ; color, light orange ; 
skin smooth and glossy ; pulp, tender and melting, sweet and 
vinous ; fruit, very juicy and heavy. 

"nonpariel, 

" Size above medium, rather flattened ; color, true orange ; 
pulp, tender and juicy ; flavor, sub-acid and vinous." 



102 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



NAVEL ORANGE. 

This peculiar orange is also known in Florida as the um- 
bilical, Bahia, embiguo, and seedless orange. 

It is well to know that there are two distinct varieties of the 
navel orange : one was imported into California from Australia, 
the other was brought from Bahia by the Department of Agri- 
culture at Washington. 

The latter is in every respect the superior, and in Califor- 
nia is known as the Riverside navel ; the former is called the 
Australian navel. 

The navel, Bahia, etc., of Florida, is identical with the Riv- 
erside navel. 

The tree is not very thorny, and is a good grower and 
early bearer, frequently bearing fruit the second year after bud- 
ding even on small stocks. Size, large to very large ; color, dark 
orange ; has a protuberance on the blossom end ; hence its name 
and trade-mark ; stem inserted in a shallow-ribbed cavity with 
deep lines ; skin smooth and glossy ; pulp, melting and tender ; juice 
sweet, sprightly, and aromatic ; first quality. Ripens in January. 

TANGIERINE. 

This is the general name of a peculiar type of orange, which 
is well known as the kid-glove species. Some botanists regard it 
as a distinct species, while others contend that it is merely a 
marked variety of the sw^eet orange. 

MANDARIN. 

This is a very beautiful tree, distinguished by its small lanci- 
olate leaves and slender flexible branches, which cause it to re- 
semble the weeping willow in appearance ; is rather dwarfish, 
and of a formal habit of growth ; the flowers are volute, and 
smaller than those of the sweet orange. 
• The first fruit is small, flattened ; skin of a deep saffron 

color, and so loosely adhered to the rind that it may be pulled 
away, and the pulp, which is very aromatic and pleasant, may 
be eaten without soiling one's gloves ; hence the popular name 
of this type of orange. 



ABOUT VARIETIES. 



103 



CHINA ; 

Or, as it is sometimes called, the Willow-leafed orange, or 
St. Michael's Tangierine. Tree, dwarf, with willow-like foliage, 
remarkably hardy. A very ornamental and desirable species ; 
the fruit is small, flattened ; skin thin, and of a deep yellow ; 
loosely adhered ; pulp, dark orange color, spicy and aromatic. 

moeagne's tangierine. 

Tree largest of its family ; size and foliage more nearly re- 
sembling the sweet orange; fruit large, flattened, of a deep crim- 
son color ; skin adhering lightly to pulp : juice sweet and aro- 
matic, and superior in quality to the rest of this type, except 
Satsuma. 

bijou ; 

Or, as it is often called, Dancy's Tangierine. This is a seed- 
ling of the Moragne Tangierine, and resembles it closely, except 
that the fruit is of superior quality. The tree is a strong upright 
grower. 

SATSUMA. 

This is another of the kid-glove oranges only recently in- 
troduced, and it is destined to take high rank as a table and 
dessert fruit. It was brought to Florida from the Island of 
Kimbin, Japan, in 1874 and in 1878, and takes its name from 
one of the chief cities of that island. The tree is thornless, the 
leaves peculiarly thick, lanciolate, medium size, petiole linear. 

The fruit is medium size, flattened ; skin, deep orange color, 
smooth and thin, easily detached ; pulp, dark orange ; segments 
part freely, fine grain, tender, sweet, and delicious ; best in qual- 
ity of the kid-glove family. 

This tree has one quality which will render it a valuable 
acquisition to our list of oranges — it is remarkably hardy. Dur- 
ing the cold winter- of 1880, the cold w^ave of December 25th, 
which injured so many trees in the northern and central por- 
tions of Florida, the Satsuma stood unharmed. On Fort George 
Island, near the mouth of the St. John's River, where the Sat- 
suma w^as first planted on Florida soil, lemons, limes, and shad- 



104 



OEAXGE CULTURE. 



docks suliered in fruit and limb ; sweet oranges lost their leaves 
and young tender growth, while the Satsumas, close by their side, 
did not suffer in the least, either in fruit, leaf, or branch, the leaf 
not even turning yellow or dropping ; and in January, 1881, the 
same experience was repeated. 

This closes the list of kid glove or Tangierine varieties, which 
are all favorite market varieties, and figure largest at balls and 
public banquets. 

And now we come to the latest ripening varieties : 

beach's xo. 5, 

Is the largest orange grown in the State ; pear-shaped; skin, 
smooth ; dark orange color ; pulp, tender and sweet ; fine ship- 
per; tree very prolific; is the only orange that makes a full crop 
every year. Ripens in February, when it blooms again for 
next crop. 

One of the finest late varieties ; of large size and very fine 
quality. Tree, a very strong grower. 

haet's taediff ; 

Or, Hart's late, as it is sometimes called; skin smooth, with 
deep pits ; color, pale yellow ; sometimes seedless, at others has 
from one to five seeds ; pulp, sweet, juicy, with a brisk, racy 
flavor. Ripens late in January, and will keep in perfect order 
on the tree till July or August. A good fruit for market. 

Phillips' bitter sweet. 

Fruit, large ; skin thin ; pulp tender, juicy, and sub-acid ; 
slightly bitter and aromatic ; an excellent summer fruit ; the 
tree is thoruless ; is a hybrid between the sweet and sour orange. 
Every grove should have a few trees. 

MALTESE BLOOD. 

Fruit, large, sweet, juicy, and seedless ; takes its name from 
the peculiar color of the pulp, which is blood-red in flakes when. . 



ABOUT VARIETIES. 



105 



half ripe, but entirely so when ripe. A favorite fruit ; the tree 
is thornless. 

There are many other varieties of the orange cultivated in 
Florida, but these are the raost ">,videly known and highly es- 
teemed, and a wise selection from those we have named will be 
Bll-sufficient to secure an ample reward of the golden fruit. 



CHAPTER 



XIV. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

In closing our remarks upon the culture of that golden fruit, 
the orange, we should leave it incomplete did we not gather in a 
few " odds and ends" of ideas and experiments that are floating^ 
about, here and there, in connection with this interesting subject. 

One of these is the question of " overproduction," which 
seems to be disturbing the mind of many superficial observers. 
We say superficial observers, advisedly, for those who take a sec- 
ond glance into the matter know such a thing to be impossible. 

Orange culture can never be overdone in this country ; the 
markets can never be so glutted as to make the prices obtained 
unremunerative. 

And why ? Because the extent of country where oranges 
(and lemons) can be successfully grown is very small compared 
to the extent of country ready and willing to purchase them. 

In the Mediterranean countries you see all the people eating 
this Queen of Fruits ; they have been educated to consider it as 
a necessity, as a part of their daily food, to be bought in prefer- 
ence to other food , if there is not money enough to purchase 
everything desired; a beggar will buy oranges and go without meat. 

The people of the United States do not appreciate the full 
value and health-giving properties of the orange as an article of 
food; it is eaten now rather as a luxury than a necessity ; but 
they are just coming to a truer appreciation of its real value, and 
before long the voice of one of our most eminent physicians, who 
has said that " if each of his patients would eat an orange before 
breakfast his practice would soon be gone," will be re-echoed all 
over the land. 

There are thousands of persons in the United States who 
have never seen an orange, and other thousands who never ob- 
tain one, except at almost prohibitorv prices. 
106 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



107 



Some day, as the number of the oranges i^laced on the 
market increases, these people will be reached, and oranges 
placed in their hands at the prices for which the more fortunate 
citizens of our Eastern cities obtain them at present. 

It is quite true, as often stated, that thousands upon thou- 
sands of orange trees are being planted all over Florida ; but it is 
safe to add that fully one-third of those planted will never come 
to bearing maturity ; many will fail from wrong treatment ; many 
will be abandoned by non-persevering owners, and many more 
will die because they have been planted too far north, and their 
strength will be exhausted by too frequent frosts. 

But even supposing that every tree planted came to matu- 
rity and bore its load of golden fruit, and that every foot of ground 
on that one-twentieth part of Florida, which is all that can be util- 
ized for orange culture, should bear its dozen oranges, what 
would all that amount to when divided among the fifty-three 
millions of inhabitants of the United States, such being the pop- 
ulation of the past year, 1882 — a population immense now, and 
doubling every thirty years ? The population will increase almost 
indefinitely ; the year 1940 will witness a population in the 
United States of more than two hundred millions. But nature 
has fixed the limit of the orange-bearing belt in the United States, 
and nature's laws are irrevocable. 

The vast markets of the West and the North-west have 
never yet received an adequate supply of oranges, and it will be 
many years before the supply will meet the demand. 

Florida oranges are admitted to be superior to any other in 
the world, and for this reason, although their numbers are yet 
comparatively few, they occupy the foremost place, and are 
eagerly sought for at the highest prices. 

The genial climate of Florida, and a soil peculiarly adapted 
to the grov/th of the orange, coupled with the long period of 
warmth and sunshine, perfect and concentrate the juices without 
destroying the aromatic flavor. 

These advantages, joined Avith a proximity to the great 
markets, which allows the fruit to remain on the tree until ripe^ 



108 



ORANGE CULTrPvE. 



^ives, and always will give, the first rank to Florida oranges in 
the United States. 

If the orange growers of Europe find it to their advantage 
to ship their inferior fruit to America, the expenses of freight, 
commissions, and a tariff (secured by General Sanford, of this 
State, for the protection of home growers) — if, we say, the Euro- 
pean growers still reap a good profit, in spite of their drawbacks, 
what should not the home grower reap, with better fruit, lighter 
freights, and no tariff? 

Those who only see the tempting-looking Mediterranean 
fruit, as set forth for the inspection of the retail consumer, have 
a very feeble conception of the real extent of the business, or the 
frequent losses to the shippers. To those who do know, the won- 
der is that the foreign groAvers still persevere in sending their 
fruit so far to meet with such frequent losses. 

Quite often the loss from decay on cargoes from the Medi- 
terranean and the West Indies amounts to fifty, seventy-five, or 
ninety per cent. In many cases not enough is realized from the 
cargo to pay the freight. 

When, however, the cargo arrives in good order, its sale 
often gives the ownei*s a good profit, and so they keep on after 
each reverse, hoj^ing for better luck next time. 

Nor would these profits accrue to the foreign orange as often 
as they do were it not for a trick of the trade adopted by some 
• dishonest dealers. 

Knowing the eagerness with which Florida oranges are 
sought, they select the best-looking foreign oranges, usually those 
from Yalentia, in Spain, mark them Florida, and sell them as 
. such to unsuspecting or ignorant customers. 

In New York alone, during the Christmas holidays, over 
fifty millions of oranges are sold, and nearly all of them are 
labeled, " Florida oranges." One of the largest dealers in New 
York, who largely supplies the Washington and Fulton markets, 
tells us frankly that all of the best imported fruit is labeled 
Florida" to meet the popular demand. 

The day is coming, however, when the superior orange of 
Florida will drive the inferior imported fruits ©ut of the markets, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



109 



und there will no longer be a temptation to deceive the con- 
sumer. 

It is quite likely that the prices of Florida oranges, as rul- 
ing at present, will fall somewhat in years to come, but they 
will probably never fall so low as not to be remunerative. 

Even supposing that the impossible should become possible, 
and the United States should find more oranges raised on 
her soil than she could consume, with profit to the grower, there 
is England ready, as has been proven by actual experiment, to 
buy our oranges at a higher price than she gives for the sour 
Mediterranean fruit — a price that yields a handsome profit to 
the producer ; but we shall never, in all probability, have need 
to seek aforeign market for our oranges. 

To further show how preposterous the cry of overproduc- 
tion is, we will ask how it is that, with the immense area of coun- 
try devoted all the time in the United States to raising apples, 
peaches, plums, cherries, there has not long since been overpro- 
duction ? 

So far is this from being the case, and so profitable have 
these orchards been to their owners, that instead of any over- 
production, the people, like Oliver Tavist, call for "more, more;" 
and the demand for nursery stock to set out new orchards is con- 
siderably on the increase, although in these fruits nearly all the 
States are competing with each other, and are able to raise their 
ow^n temperate-climate fruits on their own soil. 

Overproduction of oranges ! when there are just as many peo- 
ple w^aiting to consume the Queen of Fruits, as there are to con- 
sume all the apples, pears and peaches raised on ten thousand 
times the area. 

The question that faces the orange grower is, how to supply 
the future increasing demand. 

Superior varieties of fruit will always bring superior prices ; 
£i fruit with a known name and reputation will rank higher than 
one unnamed. 

An experienced orange grower said : " Seedling trees are 
generally eight to ten years coming into bearing, and no two 



110 



OEAXGE CULXrRE. 



trees in a grove are sure to produce alike, or of as good a quality. 
While ^ve only get twenty dollars a thousand for seedling and 
unnamed varieties, we get from forty to fifty dollai^s per thou- 
sand for our select varieties. The sooner orange growers under- 
stand this the better it will be for them." 

Even supposing that the j^rice of oranges should drop to ten 
dollars per thousand, which it is not likely to do for the best 
qualities, the grower would still realize as follows : Given seventy 
trees to the acre, and each tree bearing only five hundred or- 
anges, that would be five dollars a tree, or three hundred and 
fifty dollars per acre ; so that a ten-acre grove at these moderate 
estimates would give an annual income of thirty-five hundred 
dollars. 

Can you find ten acres North that will give so good a return 
to the farmer? except, perhaps, a specialty like cranberry rais- 
ing, for which but little land, comparatively, is available. 

Having, as we trust, laid the ghost of overproduction ta 
rest, the next point for consideration is a method of inducing 
barren trees to bear. That has only lately come into vogue 
among our more progressive orange growers, and is ?til] un- 
dreamed of by those who prefer the old time-worn groves. 

It is not a new method, having been practiced for years 
past in many places, and upon many kinds of fruit trees, with 
uniform success. 

In all groves or orchards, of whatsoever kind, will be found 
here and there trees that flourish and grow thriftily, yet bear 
little or no fruit. These are termed barren trees ; and the 
method we have referred to is designed to produce fruitfulness 
in these lazy, ne'er-do-well of the vegetable kingdom. 

There are a good many orange trees at the present time, 
scattered about, which are old enough, and thrifty enough, but 
never bear a crop. 

Girdling a non-productive tree in order to retard the flow of 
sap, and encourage the formation of fruit buds rather than wood,, 
is the method we have mentioned, and though only now coming 
into extensive use, has been known and practiced by pomolo- 
gists for the last hundred years. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Ill 



It is rather curious that \ve girdle a tree to kill it, and 
girdle it to make it live and be useful. 

But in the one case we cut deep through outer and inner 
bark ; in the other, ^^^e carefully remove a ring of the outer 
bark only, from one to three-eighths of an inch wide, cutting 
entirely around the tree, or branch, if we only desire to try the 
experiment on the latter. 

A knife or small saw, with the teeth set wide, will do the 
work effectually. 

There is an apple orchard out West where alternate rows of 
young, unbearing trees were girdled, and two years after they 
were loaded to the ground with the finest fruit, while the rows 
between them, of the same age, not girdled, had not a single 
apple on them. 

This practice of girdling is both rational and effective, and 
is destined to give the intelligent fruit grower considerable com- 
mand over his trees. 

When early bearing is desired the ring of bark should be 
removed, while the tree is growing, during the previous year. 
For early ripening and increased size of fruit, girdle just after 
the fruit has set. 

Another Avay of girdling, Avhich we prefer, consists in wind- 
ing wire two or three times tightly around the tree, so that the 
return flow of sap will be retarded. 

Still another way of inducing barren trees to bear, is to 
drive into the trunk a circle of nails, close together ; this has 
the double effect of girdling the bark sufficiently to retard the 
sap (which always leads to the formation of fruit), and of intro- 
ducing into the body of the tree an element which is as needful 
to vegetable health as it is to human — namely, iron. 

Yet another method of inducing fruit was discovered in 
rather an amusing way some years ago : A high-tempered man 
became angered at two of his neighbors, and as they would, in 
all probability, have objected to his relieving his feelings by 
beating them, he went into his garden, where stood two thrifty 
old plum or pear trees that had never borne fruit. These trees 
he named as his obnoxious neighbors, and taking up a club, 



112 



ORANGE CULTURE. 



soothed his feeliugs by giving their tree-namesakes a tremendous 
drubbino-. This was in the summer; the trees did not grow 
€[uite as fast as usual, and the next season, for the first time, 
they bore lai'ge crops of fine fruit. Investigation proved that 
the whipping they had received had bruised the bark so as to 
retard the flow of sap, just as if they had been girdled. 

Girdling orange trees by any of these methods should be 
done from June to September, when fruit is wanted for tbe next 
year ; and to make large and early fruit, late in March or early 
in April. 

The China berry tree is said to be a great fertilizer, when 
planted in the " diamonds," between the orange trees. It pro- 
fusely drops its foliage, adding a rich humus to the soih It will 
abundantly fertilize the soil for a space of thirty or forty feet 
around it. 

From Australia comes a voice that is echoed from many 
parts of Florida, saying, " We have found, not the remedy, but 
better still, the preventive for the scale insect." What is it ? A 
tree that has been making considerable stir in the world of late, be- 
cause of its anti-malarial and draining properties, the Eucalyptus. 

It is a well known fact that insects dislike the smell and 
taste of this remarkable tree, and it has never been known to be 
attacked by any of their mischievous race. 

Who does not know the peculiar aromatic odor of the 
Eucalyptus; and from afar the winds waft its perfume? Place 
some of these trees among your orange trees — the more the 
better — if your land is inclined to be too moist, and whatever 
orange trees are near enough to get the benefit of their odor, will be 
free from insects, even though others around them may be infested 
with them. This is especially true as regards the scale insect, 
Avhich appears to have a very great dislike to the Eucalyptus tree. 

It is also claimed that strips of the bal'k of this tree, tied 
around the trunks of other trees, will keep insects at bay, just as 
a few of its leaves scattered about the floor wdll drive fleas away. 

These assertions being true, we should judge that a w^ash 
made of a strong effusion of Eucalyptus leaves, or bark, would be 
a very effectual weapon wherewith to fight our insect enemies. 



CHAPTEK XV. 

LEMON CULTURE. 

All that lias been said in these pages regarding orange culture 
Avill apply equally well to lemons, with a few slight modifications. 

One of these differences relates to pruning ; as we have seen^ 
the orange tree will admit of considerable lapping off of its 
branches, and with benefit. The lemon, on the contrary, resents 
any such meddling with its branches, unless they are dead ; 
then, of course, they must be removed. 

One single cutting away, especially of the lower branches, 
that nature intended to shield its trunk from the sun and wind^ 
will put back the tree from one to two years in growth, and 
seriously aftects its vigor and health. 

AYe remember a case in point : A gentleman had one 
especial lemon tree near his house, and wishing to make it an 
ornament to his grounds, determined to curb its straggling pro- 
pensities, and " train it in the way it should go." With knife,, 
saw and shears, he pruned and lapped, until the tree had 
assumed the desired symmetrical proportions — tall and rounded,, 
its trunk smooth and bare, instead of being well nigh hidden by 
sheltering foliage. 

The tree w-as expected to bear fruit the next season, but it 
did not; it devoted its energies to replacing its lowermost 
branches. Carefully they were pinched and pruned away ; not 
a very arduous task was this, either, for the growth was weak 
and slow; then the leaves turned yellow, new shoots were 
scarce, and the whole tree assumed a sickly appearance. 

Still the true cause of the trouble was not even surmised, 
and once more the limbs were cut back; another year, two 
years, and though the tree still lived, that was all it did do ; a 
few weakly blossoms came straggling out, gave a weary, hope- 
less sigh, and sank to the ground. 

113 



114 



LEMON CULTURE. 



Then the owner of the tree resolved to cut it down, root and 
branch, but the gentle housewife pleaded for its existence ; it 
was near the dwelling, and sickly as it was, it gave some needed 
shelter. 

" Very well, then, let it stay ; but I'll do nothing more with 
it. I'll let it alone entirely." 

So it w^as " let alone," and that was the greatest boon that 
could have been granted that unhappy tree 

Slowly and cautiously, as though fearful of attracting atten- 
tion, and hearing more sharp, cutting remarks on its behavior, it 
put forth new branches low down on its trunk. They grew on 
until their drooping leaves shaded it once more ; then the top 
took a start, and all through the season it grew, becoming more 
and more vigorous. In the spring it set a hundred or more fine 
lemons, and the next year bore a heavy crop — just because it 
was " let alone." 

Again, while orange groves may be planted with profit on 
hammock lands, a lemon grove cannot. The trees will not flour- 
ish at all in the hammocks ; we do not know why. No explana- 
tion of the cause has ever been given ; but the fact remains, even 
with regard to high hammocks. 

The lemon requires a dryer soil than the orange ; hence 
some locations that suit the latter will not answer at all for the 
former. The quality of the soil, however, is not of so much im- 
portance for the lemon tree as it is for the orange, the latter 
being a grosser feeder. The lemon will grow well and thriftily, 
where its more epicurean sister would languish for want of food. 

As a rule, the lemon tree is less hardy than the orange—a 
degree of cold that does no harm to the latter, wilts the young 
growth of the lemon, and causes its leaves to drop. There is an 
exception to this rule, however, as we shall see presently, when 
we come to note the different varieties. 

The culture of the lemon in those of the United States 
adapted for its growth — Florida, Louisiana, and Southern Cali- 
fornia — has not yet received the attention due to its national im- 
portance ; on the contrary, it has been greatly neglected. 

This state of affairs is largely due to a prevailing opinion 



LEMON CULTURE. 



115 



that it is useless to try to compete with the foreign or Mediter- 
ranean lemon; and, certainly, the latter is far superior in quality 
to the orange from the same localities — a fact abundantly proved 
by recent statistics, which show an enormous increase in the im- 
portations during the last few years, and a corresponding decrease 
in the amount of oranges brought into this country. 

Now, there is no reason whatever Avhy the hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars annually sent out by the United States in ex- 
change for this popular and necessary fruit, should not be kept 
at home, and go to enrich our own citizens rather than foreigners. 

The whole trouble has originated — first, in the inexperience 
of the growers in properly gathering and curing the lemon for 
market ; second, in the general and erroneous impression that 
the lemon tree is more liable to become diseased than the orange ; 
third, the fact that nearly all seedling lemon trees bear fruit 
with a rind so bitter and coarse as to be unfit for market ; and 
fourth, in a totally mistaken idea on the part of the growers as 
to the kind of lemon most popular in the markets. 

But, latterly, our people have waked up to the importance of 
the subject, and these old-time rocks in the sea of lemon culture 
are being at last blown to atoms before the " Hercules powder" 
of investigation and common-sense. 

The first rock — that of the lemons reaching market in bad 
condition — has been removed. They used to be picked when 
quite ripe, packed at once, and sent off, to be found almost in- 
variably heated and rotten at their journey's end. 

But now they may be kept perfectly good for six months or 
more by proper treatment, and they will improve rather than 
deteriorate by being so kept. 

It is a very simple matter, this preparation of lemons for 
market, being exactly the same process we have already described 
as applied to oranges — namely, an avoidance of moisture while 
curing, by spreading the fruit on well-ventilated shelves, and aft- 
erward sorting in grades and wrapping in Manilla paper. 

But at the outset there is one point of difterence, and this it is 
which is of paramount importance, involving success or failure. 
The orange will keep well, even if picked when quite ripe; the 



11(3 



LEMON CULTURE. 



lemou will not. It must be picked when just commencing to 
turn yellow, and at least one-half of the rind is still green ; picked 
in this condition, it should be kept ou the drying shelves for at 
least six or eight weeks. 

This is the secret of curing lemons successfully, as recom- 
mended by a special committee of California citrus fruit growers, 
appointed expressly for the purpose of investigating this impor- 
tant subject. 

The second rock that has stood in the way of lemon culture 
in the United States — the idea that the tree is more subject to 
disease than the orange — doubtless arose from the pioneer trees 
having been planted on soil too moist for them, under the belief 
that Avherever the orange would flourish, the lemon should do 
likewise. 

As a matter of fact the latter, in suitable locations, outstrips 
the orange in the rapidity of its growth, even though on much 
poorer soil ; it is even less liable to disease, and scale insects 
more rarely attack it. Where an orange tree will bear one thou- 
sand oranges, a lemon of the same age will bear from three to 
five thousand. 

It is rather a notable oddity that the first two or three crops, 
even of the finest varieties, are apt to be coarse and spongy, and 
totally unlike its after-crops. One might almost imagine the 
tree to be following the example of the " lords of creation," and 
" sowing its wild oats " in its youth, before settling down as a 
staid, demure " dealer in first-class fruits only." 

The third rock on which the lemon barque of the United 
States was erewhile threatened with shipwreck, was the "sport- 
ing " tendency of the seedling lemon. 

But our growers have learned at last not to put their faith 
in trees of this class, for, after patiently waiting for years, the 
fruit, in nine cases out of ten, is Avorthless. The moral of this 
is, raise no seedling lemons for their fruit; they make good, 
thrifty stocks, and that is all they are good for. 

Bud approved varieties of lemon, on lemon, citron, lime, or 
sweet orange stock ; the last is best of all, as it renders the tree 



LEMON CULTURE. 



117 



more hardy. Never waste time waiting for a seedling lemon to 
bear, unless you wish to taste of the "Dead Sea Apple." 

The mistaken idea as to the popular lemon called for Ly the 
public is well set forth (in all good faith, however), by the follow- 
ing extract from a work quite recently published about Florida : 
" The tree grows more rapidly, produces fruit sooner, and 
has larger and better flavored lemons than are found anywhere 
else. I have seen and picked lemons of one-and-a-half to two 
pounds in weight, and at the State Fair saw lemons weighing 
two-and-a-half pounds." 

Now, here is the very rock on which many a lemon-laden 
barque has gone down. Who wants lemons that weigh from one- 
and-a-half to two-and-a-half pounds ? 

Not the saloon-keepers ; they will not, when sliced, go into 
their tumblers ; not the confectioners, their rind is too coarse 
and bitter, and the juice too scarce ; not the private family, they 
are too much for one, and not enough for two ; in fact, no one 
wants these monsters, and erewhile our growers were striving to 
see who could produce the largest lemons that would sell the 
least. Very large lemons are not only rough-skinned, but their 
centres are hollow, and the pulp contains comparatively little j nice. 

This is why the common Florida lemon is good only for 
home use ; it will not sell in the markets, but is valuable to the 
growers for family purposes, because it fruits early from the 
seed, is Yer^ prolific, bears constantly, blossoms, ripe and half- 
grown fruit, and buttons just set, all hanging on the tree together. 

Growers are findinc^ out their mistake, now, as to the rio-ht 
■ kind of lemons to put on the markets to compete with the for- 
eign fi'uit. The latter meets the popular want ; therefore, in 
size, aroma, color, texture of the skin, freedom from seeds, and 
the absence of bitterness in the rind after being a long time in 
water ; in all these points we have our model ready at hand, and 
it must be followed if we, of America, would drive out the for- 
eigner. 

This same special committee to which we have referred has 
also pointed out the way to do this ; it collected for investigation 
lemons from all quarters of the globe — Palermo, Messina, ^Malaga, 



118 



LEMON CULTURE. 



in Sicily and Spain ; CVJifornia, Mexico, South America, and 
Florida. 

The appearance of the fruit, its size, quality of rind, per- 
centage of acidity, bitterness, flavor, and quantity of juice, are 
the points that were made a basis of comparison. 

And this was the result of long and patient examination, 
that a lemon weighing, when cured, about three ounces, with a 
soft, smooth, golden-colored rind, is the favorite in all the great 
markets, and will sell readily at the highest prices, where larger 
and rougher skinned fruit will scarcely sell at all, at any price. 

And the directions given, so that this desired quality of fruit 
may be home-grown, are to discard all trees that after a fair trial 
continue to show bitterness ; to raise no seedling lemons for fruit, 
and to exercise great care in selecting buds from trees of proved 
excellence, that are free from bitterness and rich in citric acid. 

Some of the budded varieties already introduced in Califor- 
nia and Florida were pointed out as well worthy of cultivation, 
and as already commanding as high a price in the great markets 
as the best imported lemons. 

Of these, Gary's Eureka stands foremost. Of this lemon 
ive are told that it originated from a chance California seedling, 
and that the original tree, now only seven years old, produced 
only tw^o thousand lemons this past season, and that many other 
trees budded from it on orange stock, three years from the bud, 
are fruiting heavily ; and that while the ordinary Sicily lemon 
brings only ten dollars per thousand in San Francisco, the Eu- 
reka brings thirty dollars per thousand. Mr. Gary tells us that 
he has for years been in search of a truly good lemon, and now 
he has at last found it, wherefore he cries. Eureka ! 

And now let us pass on to our notice of the different varie- 
ties that have been proven worthy of cultivation, and as we have 
seen, first and foremost, comes the 

EUREKA. 

The tree is thornless, a strong grower, and an early and 
prolific bearer. Fruit, medium ; sizerind sweet, no bitterness ; a 
strong, pleasant acid, and seedless. 



LEMOX CULTURE. 



119 



LEMOX OF GENOA. 

Introduced from Genoa, Italy. Tree, thornless ; an early and 
ilieayy bearer ; fruit, medium size ; sweet rind ; strong, pleasant 
-^cid. 

SICILY. 

Tree a prolific bearer ; fruit, medium size ; very juicy ; skin 
very thin ; a good keeper and shipper. 

fre>'ch's seedlixg. 

Tree a strong grower, almost thornless ; fruit small, rather 
-fattened ; skin very thin, tough, and dense ; pulp fine, juicy, 
and highly flavored ; fully equal to the imported Sicily. 

BIJOU. 

This is a superior fruit that has sufl^ered much injustice in 
this State, owing to the fact that, whether accidentally or other- 
•wise, a lemon really worthless, the Bergamot, has been placed 
4351 the market under the name of Bijou, the two being very dis- 
tinct varieties. The true Bijou is the hardiest among lemon trees, 
:a,nd will bear as much cold uninjured, as the orange ; leaf, broad 
and small ; fruit, small ; smooth, thin skin ; very juicy ; fine acid. 
Commences to ripen August 1st. 

X'APOLEOX. 

Prolific bearer ; fruit, medium size ; thin rind ; very juicy ; 
::€iiape, oblong ; excellent for shipping. 

AUGUST. 

Tree, a rapid, vigorous grower; new growth, deep purple; 
-fruit, medium size ; smooth, thin skin ; fine acid ; shape, elon- 
igated ; a splendid shipper. Eipens August 1st. 

VARIEGATED. 

Strong grower ; leaves mottled with white ; pale straw color, 
-snd several shades of green ; very ornamental ; fruit, smooth, 
jdain-skinned ; fine acid ; medium size ; very superior. 



CHAPTER XVL 



CITRUS FRUITS. 
LIMES. 

Next after the orange and lemon, the lime ranks as the 
most important member of the celebrated citrus family, and the 
day is not far distant when the hitherto modest lime will step 
forward and assert itself as the full equal of the lemon. 

The production of limes in quantity is one of the latent 
interests that will spring up in the near future of Florida. 

The lime tree is an early and prolific bearer, and will bring 
its owner a revenue more quickly than any other of the citrus 
fruits. 

The lime, which is found scattered over the State, and known 
as the " Florida lime," is in reality the Mexican lime, and is well 
worthy of extended culture. It never " sports " like the lemon, 
but is a quiet, steady-going t>ree, coming true to its seed always, 
growing rapidly, and producing abundantly good fruit in poor 
soil, when only three years old. 

Wherever the lime is introduced it receives a warm wel- 
come ; its acid is more pleasant than that of the lemon; its juice far 
more abundant in proportion to its size, and being smaller than 
the lemon, is highly esteemed, and, in fact, preferred before the 
latter for hotel, saloon, and culinary uses. 

Pickled and preserved limes are justly celebrated, and a 
jelly made of limes is also delicious. 

With all these points in its favor, how is it that comparatively 
so few limes are planted ? 

There are two reasons, we are told. First, because the lime 
tree is the most delicate as regards cold, of the citrus family, 
and is often touched by frosts. Second, because the fruit does 
not ship well. And third, because the prices they bring in 
market are not as groiat as those for oranges or lemons. 
120 



LIMES. 



121 



Granted — the first reason ; but the injury done by the cold 
in South and East Florida is, after all, infrequent, and rarely 
amounts to more than killing the tender new gro'vvth which the 
lime is ever putting on, regardless of season, drought, or poor soil, 
and this does not really hurt the tree. It is true that the area of 
successful growth of the lime is limited ; all the better, then, for 
those who dwell within that area, there is no danger of their 
enterprise being overdone. 

Here, in Sumter county, two or three winters ago, the ther- 
mometer several times sunk to 31°, and once or twice to 28°, 
but the limes survived ; only the young growing shoots were 
killed, and it is rare, indeed, that the cold touches such low 
degrees in this locality. 

Therefore, South and East Florida may pass by this first 
reason for non-cultivation of the lime, as of minor importance to 
them, at least. 

Now, for the second — " the fruit will not ship well, " and m ove 
-an amendment : "It has not shipped well ; " and, then, we grant 
this, too. But this is not the fault of the fruit, no more than 
that of the sweated orange, which, started On its downward jour- 
ney by heedless or ignorant hands, reaches its destination in an 
unsaleable condition. This frequently happens, yet we never 
heard any one say that the " orange will not ship well," nor 
does any one refuse to set out groves of the same on this account. 

The truth is, that limes will ship just as well as its kindred 
fruit, the lemons, if picked only when quarter or half ripe, 
cured on drying shelves, and packed just like oranges and 
lemons. 

But we have never known a single instance where this 
ordinary care has been taken wdth the lemon. It has never 
had a fair chance given it to reach its market in good condition. 

Nor is the absence of the curing process the only trouble, 
as a prominent grower plainly puts the case : 

" Our producers have not selected their fruit. They have 
not sent to market only first-class fruit ; but have sent instead 
a heterogeneous collection of large, small, ripe, green, and in 
some instances, from sheer carelessness, half rotten fruit. Of 



122 



CITRUS FRUITS. 



course, the merchants returned account of sales " nil.'' I will 
say, in this connection that I have just received account sales 
of my last shipment of limes, returning me nat, seven dollars 
and forty-five cents per thousand, and written on the margin 
was, " Good, well-selected limes looking up." 

This tells the whole story : Prepare and pack limes prop- 
erly, that they may l:>e fairly introduced into the great fruit 
marts, and the eonveni' iic" of us'ULi; them, as compared with the 
large ienjons, will soon make tl.t m formidable rivals to the latter. 

A citric aci i inaiiulactory, Id lake off the " culls " of our 
lime trees, would be ;i urecVt boon to this State, and pat thousands 
of dollars in the pockets of the people very speedily, for there is 
no tedious waiting for ten or twelve years for limes to come into 
profit. Commencing to bear at their third year from the seed, 
they rapidly increase in bearing capacity, until, when they art 
twelve years old, they bear from three to five thousand limes. 

Now, suppose one hundred seedling orange trees and one- 
hundred limes to be set out at the same time, at twelve 3^ears oi 
age, the one hundred orange trees, carefully cultivated and fer- 
tilized, will yield little, if any, income. The one himdred linae 
trees, much neglected and unfertilized, will be each bearing, saj.^ 
three thousand limes. Suppose they sell for only three dollar? 
per thousand, net; well, here we have an income of nine huii 
dred dollars for the hundred lime trees, occupying less than oBe 
acre of ground. 

The lime tree is of low, bushy habit, and does not so deeply 
resent trimming up as does the lemon. Tall, upright trees^-. 
with smooth, bare trunks, have been shaped from the lime ; but 
it is better to let nature take her own way, and she intended the 
lime to be a tall, pyramidal bush, rather than a tree. All tha,t 
is desirable is to prevent the lower branches from lying on the 
ground, and to trim out the centre so that air and sunshine may 
reach evey part. 

In raising seedling limes, always select the seed from the- 
largest and most perfect fruit, as the fruit from this is sure to be- 
of the same quality as the parent. There are only two or three 
qualities of the lime, and these are the 



THE CITRON. 



FLORIDA. 

Introduced from Mexico, and known in California as the- 
Mexican. Fruit, medium size ; skin, smooth and '|thin ; juice,, 
acid, rich and abundant; the best for general cultivation. 

SWEET, OR DULCIS. 

Large, thick-skinned, pulpy ; valued only as a variety, and 
for preserving. 

PERSIAN. 

Lately introduced, a very superior sort. Fruit, large, and 
often exceeds the ordinary lemon in size; juice, a very pleasant 
acid ; pulp, tender and seedless. 

THE CITRON. 

The citron, like the lemon and lime, is more susceptible to 
cold than the orange, and is the least esteemed of the citrus- 
family, with the single exception of the shaddock. The tree is 
rather dwarfish, attaining the height of eight feet; is erect and 
irregular in growth, and has many drooping branches, with 
short thorns. 

The fruit is quite large and heavy, and of several varieties 
and shapes. In Florida but two kinds are extensively known, 
but in Europe six varieties are cultivated : the common, the flat- 
fruited, the forbidden-fruited, the round-fruited, and the thick- 
leaved. In all these sorts there are two rinds — the outer one 
thin, with miliary glands, full of a very fragrant oil — the inner 
thick, white and fungous. It is for this thick rind only that the 
citron is valued, it being used extensively in confectionery, both 
in its candied and "preserved" foj^is. The United States has 
always received its supply of candied citron from abroad as it 
has been sujDposed that the fruit,. as grown here, could not be a& 
well cured as the foreign grown. 

This idea has lately, however, been proved to be incorrect^ 
and now, in San Francisco, we find a wide-awake firm advertis- 
ing for all the citrons that can be raised in California, and that^, 
too, at good paying rates to the grower. 



124 



CITRUS FRUITS. 



In Florida some of our energetic house-keepers have been 
quietly experimenting, and the result has been a better and finer 
article than the imported candied citron, bringing the highest 
price whenever j)laced on the market. 

The sooner our people realize that there is money in 
citron, the better it will be for them. The fruit is easily pre- 
pared for market and is very profitable. The tree is readily prop- 
agated from cuttings, which bear fruit in two or three years. It also 
grows readily from seed. The varieties grown in Florida are the 

ORANGE, 

Shape, round like an orange ; size, large ; skin, pale yellow, 
rough and glossy ; inner skin, white, coarse and thick ; a very 
desirable variety. 

LEMON. 

Shape, oblong like a lemon ; size very large, weighing from 
two to eight pounds ; skin, light yellow, rough and glossy ; inner 
skin thick, spongy and aromatic. The best sort for general 
cultivation. 

SHADBOCK. 

The shaddock is a strong, thrifty grower; its general 
appearance closely resembles the orange; its leaves, however, 
are larger, and have a broad-winged petiole, and its habit of 
growth is more irregular and spreading ; the fruit is very large, 
and not greatly esteemed, although the sub-acid juice is very 
refreshing. It ripens in the early winter, and continues on the 
tree in good condition until May and June. Varieties are : 

Mammoth -Fruit, very large; skin, smooth, glossy, pale-yellow; 
rind, thick, spongy, and bitter ; pulp, green, watery, and sub-acid. 

Blood. — Resembles the^ mammoth, in all respects, except 
that the pulp is red, and the flavor of juice is more delicate. 

Grape Fruit or Pomolo. --^This, fruit is held by some to be a 
distinct species, but it is, no doubt, a variety of the shaddock, and 
the most esteemed. Fruit is pale yellow ; small, compared to 
the other varieties of the shaddock ; skin smooth, rather thin ; 
pulp, sub-acid and very refreshing, with a decided grape flavor ; 
hence, its most popular name. 



CHAPTER XVIL 



PINE-APPLES. 

Next in importance to the culture of oranges and lemons in 
Florida, and destined to rival even these fruits in the future, 
comes the pine-apple, most fragrant of all fruits, and second to 
none in delicious flavor. ^ 

This industry, like those just mentioned, is still in its in- 
fancy here, and, consequently, there are many conflicting opinions 
as to the best soils and modes of culture. 

From a mass of opinions on this subject we have endeavored 
to sift out facts, and to recommend a mode of culture which may 
be relied on as safe to follow, and reasonably certain to lead to 
success. 

One WTiter on pine-apple culture tells us that " the best soil 
for them is new, rich/ land, closely underlaid with clay ; " another 
says, " the soil should be very rich, and is better to be all clay ; " 
while others recommend rich hammock land. 

Now, all this may be true in certain places and latitudes, but 
it is not true in Florida. 

Pine land gives the best result in every instance upon record, 
and it needs but little fertilizing either. 

It is a mistake to suppose the pine-apple needs a very rich 
soil to do its best ; it is a plant that wants only moderate food, 
and is easily surfeited, and its growth actually retarded by too 
much fertilizing ; and in tl^is fact lies the secret of the failure of 
nearly all who have not succeeded in raising this delicious fruit 
successfully. 

Rarely, indeed, is the man who set out his pine-apple plan- 
tation on rich hammock land found extending it — at least not 
on the same soil— while, whenever a patch has been started on 
pine land, and moderately cared for, you will find the owner 

125 



126 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



preparing to plant more and more, in sheer delight at the " treas- 
ure trove " he has discovered at his feet. 

Even the poorest pine land, with a yellow sub-soil close to 
the surface, has been proved to give better plants and larger 
fruits than rich hammock laud adjoining. 

Another mistake that is not made now so frequently as it 
used to be, was setting the plants on moist land. The pine-apple 
is closely allied to air plants, and therefore is not only a mod- 
erate feeder, but also a moderate drinker ; its long narrow leaves 
draw no small share of its required nutriment and moisture from 
the air, leaving the roots little to do. 

Pine-apples, unlike most other fruits, are not propagated 
from the seed, for it is a singular fact that not more than one 
fruit in a million of the cultivated varieties contains a single 
seed ; hence, if compelled to depend on seeds for their increase, 
we should be badly off indeed. When seeds are found they are 
regarded as great treasures, and carefully planted; for, from. this 
source only, can new varieties be obtained ; sometimes they prove 
valuable, more times not. 

The pine-apple plant, like the banana, bears fruit but once, 
and then dies down; if the old root is left in the ground, suck- 
ers rise up from the axes of the leaves near the ground. 

As soon as these attain a sufficient size, the root should be 
lifted and cut, with one sucker to each piece, and these pieces 
set where they are to stay. 

At the top of the fruit is a crest of leaves, called the crown, 
and surrounding this, at its base, are other tufts, called crowdlets ; 
while at the base of the fruit itself, surmounting the stem upon 
which it grows, are still other off-sets, termed slips. Upon the 
stalk which bears the pine are "eyes," which, treated like grape 
cuttings, are also used to increase rare varieties. 

From these sources suckers, crowns, crownlets, and slips and 
eyes, pine-appks are easily and abundantly propagated, and 
these are usually sought after in the order named, from the idea 
that suckers fruit first, crowns next, and so on. 

This, too, however, has been shown to be an erroneous im- 
pression ; the fact is, that the size of the plant alone governs its 



PINE-APPLES. 



127 



fruitiDg. Give them a large sucker and a small slip, and keep them 
growing eqaallv fast, then, of course, the sucker will fruit first, 
the slips last ; but reverse these conditions — take a large slip and 
a small sucker, and the slip will be the first to yield up its lus- 
cious treasure. 

It is of no advantage to send to a nursery or elsewhere for 
ready-rooted plants. Get as large-sized plants as you can to 
start with, but any roots that they may have before coming into 
your possession you may count as nil. 

Pine-apple rootlets are of so tender and perishable a nature 
that even if they survive transplanting, they will be longer in reviv- 
ing and going to work again, than new roots will be in forming 
and takiug hold ; conserjuently, rooted plants are no desideratum. 

It is a very easy ni.itter to root suckers, crowns, crownlets, 
or slips after you have them on the ground ready for planting, 
and it is better to start them on their rootward journey before 
setting tlieni out in their permanent places. 

As a preliminary, carefully pull ofi" the overlapping leaves 
at the base for an inch or half inch, according to the size of the 
offsets : this will facilitate the rooting process ; then make a bed 
of damp moss, keep it damp, and place them, base dovrnward, in 
it, just as you would place them in the ground when planting ; 
cover them with more moss, not damp, and place them in a 
shady spot. 

After they have lain thus a week or two, examine them, 
and plant out those that have sent forth slender white rootlets a 
half inch or more in length ; some will take several weeks longer 
than others to do this, but it is best to wait their time before set- 
ting them out, and they will grow off more surely and thrifty by 
this method than by any other. 

Some planters recommend leaving the offsets exposed to the 
sun for weeks, or even months, to facilitate rooting ; but while 
the plants will really root under this heroic treatment, it is at 
the expense of their ultimate thrift, and the rooting in the damp 
moss and in the shad^e is by far a better plan, and one that makes 
a certainty of the after well-being of every offset ; not one wiU 
be lost by this method. 



128 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



But DO matter how the plants are rooted, it is necessary to 
see that after being set out they do not lack moisture until thor- 
oughly established — a period that will be known by a wider 
opening of the offset in the centre, and new leaves appearing 
there ; after that they may be mulched when the soil is moist, 
and left to take care of themselves, so far as moisture is con- 
cerned. 

In preparing ground for a pine-apple plantation, parallel 
lines three feet apart should be laid off, and a compost of well- 
rotted stable manure and muck, or leaves, or muck and bone- 
meal, spread in along these lines for a width of about eighteen 
inches and a depth of one foot. 

The trenches thus prepared should be settled by one or more 
heavy rains before setting out the plants. The latter should be 
placed two feet apart, not closer, to insure each plant plenty of 
room. Too close planting will, of a surety, stunt both plant and 
fruit. 

In the West Indies and Bahamas, the growers plant close, to 
keep down the weeds, and they succeed admirably in keeping 
down the fruit also. They plant from 20,000 to 25,000 on an 
acre : this is why we see so much small and inferior fruit thrown 
en the American markets. 

Planted as the experience of our leading Florida growers 
recommend, as given above, an acre will contain, say, 6,500 
plants ; these, at twenty-five cents for each fruit, will bring their 
owner the respectable sum of 81,625 — no mean_ showing as the 
earnings of one acre of ground ; and in addition to this amount 
of hard cash, must be added its representative in the shape of 
the suckers, crownlets, and slips that remain after the fruit is 
.ready for market, enough to set out two or three acres of land. 

Sometimes fruit is obtained in twenty months, oftener in 
two years, and sometimes not for three or more, from the setting 
■out of the offsets ; it all depends on the care they receive, and, 
above all, on their proper protection from frost. 

Pine-apples, once started, need little care ; almost none if the 
ground about them is heavily mulched, but if not, they should be 
mulched to keep down weeds, this latter being the extent of their 



PINE-APPLES. 



129 



requirements after being properly prepared at the outset. The 
question of frost protection is a most important one to the 
Florida grower, for the plant is essentially tropical, and the 
least frost injures it more or less ; a light frost only kills the 
leaves, and if the plant is not near fruiting, this injury will only, 
diminish its size, and retard the fruiting season. 

But let the plant be large and well on towards the fruiting 
time, and then if the leaves are killed the fruit will be small, 
and unmarketable, while if water should be standing in the little 
cup formed by the centre leaves, when a sharp frost sufficient to 
freeze the water chances this way, w^oe to the plant itself; its 
tender life currents will be so chilled and shocked as never more 
to grow onwards, and the plant will droop and die, to be re- 
placed by feeble suckers. 

But there is no need that such mishaps should occur with a 
careful planter ; a slight ^protection will insure the safety of the 
pine-apple. 

While the plants are small, a couple of sticks — split shin- 
gles are convenient for making them — stuck by them, so that 
their tops meet above the plant, with a handful of the long gray 
moss so abundant in the hammocks — which, by-th@-way, is no 
moss at all, but belongs to the pine-apple family, and is an air 
plant — dropped over them, is all-sufficient. 

When they become too large for this, two, ten, or twelve- 
inch boards, nailed together at a right angle, and then placed 
over the plants like an inverted trough, afford an excellent shel- 
ter. If the boards are not over ten feet long, one man can easily 
lift them into position on the approach of a threatening night,, 
for it is at night that the Florida frosts nearly ahvays occur. 

Another method of protection is to drive down low stakes 
among the pine-apples, to lay small scantling or rails from stake- 
to stake, and on these pile brush, cornstalks, anything that will 
serve as a shelter ; cloths or bagging are also often stretched over 
the protecting frame-work, and these, though a little expensive 
at the outset, are really economical in the end, since the one ex- 
pense serves for season after season, while brush must be collected 
and removed each year. 



130 



FLOEIDA FEUITS, 



Yet, another way of protecting pine-apples, and in fact any 
plant from frost, is to make ready here and there, but especially 
to the north and west of the plantation, small piles of heavy 
timber, with light-wood knots ready for kindling on the ap- 
proach of frost. Plenty of leaves and dampened brush should 
also be at hand to cast on the blaze when once fairly started, so 
as to make a " smudge fire" — that is, one that will give out a 
sufficient heat while not burning away freely or clearly. The 
cold winds that sweep Florida once or twice in ordinary 
winters invariablv come from the north-west, and in arrang- 
ing these protecting " smudge fires," this should be held in 
mind, and the cold winds made useful by wafting the warmest 
air just where it is wanted ; although, as we have seen, new va- 
rieties can only be obtained from those very rare jewels, pine- 
apple seeds, and not more than one in a hundred of these is of 
any value, yet by long years of patience and perseverance a 
number of varieties have been secured. 

Of these the following have been introduced and successfully 
cultivated in Florida, doubtless, others will follow: 

SPANISH. 

The pine-apple has a bewildering number of aliases, as fol- 
lows : " The Red Spanish," " Red Pine," because of the reddish 
tint of its leaves and bloom ; "Black Spanish" and " Black Ja- 
maica," because in certain stages of its growth the fruit is very 
dark, almost black; and last, " Commercial Pine," because of its 
fine shipping qualities, which causes it to rank high in a commer- 
cial point of view. 

This plant fruits sooner than the sugar-loaf, and bears a 
greater degree of cold without injury, and also grows more thrifty 
on poor land, but the quality of its fruit is not so good. 

The latter drawback, however, is not considered of much 
importance in its commercial value, and the Spanish to-day is 
the favorite pine-apple with the "large" Florida planter. 

SUGAR-LOAF. 

This is a superior fruit, fragrant and delicious in flavor, but 
inferior in size to the Spanish, and for this reason not so gener- 



PINE-APPLES. 



131 



ally cultivated for market. The Egyptian Queen and the 
smooth-leaved Cayenne are fine varieties, the fruit of the former 
being considered superior to the sugar-loaf, while the large fruit 
and the smooth leaves of the Cayenne makes it a very desirable 
sort to cultivate ; one of the drawbacks to the pine-apple culture 
being the torn clothes and flesh that are apt to follow quick or 
careless movements among its prickly leaves. 

In the Azores, w^here, as in Florida, cold winds sometimes 
sweep over the islands, pine-apple culture is one of the great 
staples, and vast conservatories are built on purpose to preserve 
the fruiting plants from the uncertainties of the climate. 

Fruiting plants, we repeat — for there is a distinction made 
between plants too small and those large enough to bear fruit — 
the former are left in the open ground to take their chances, as 
best they may, until they are nearly ready to fruit, then they are 
carefully taken up and placed in the conservatory, w^here the 
whole energies of the gardener are devoted to the task of coaxing 
out of it the largest and finest pine-apple possible. 

This plant, as we have seen, does not fruit at any given 
time of year, but according to its size ; and it is a point with 
Azorians to place their best fruit in the London market during 
the Christmas festivities and the height of the "season." They 
have found a method of making their plants fruit at the proper 
time by constant attention to hurry their growth, or none at all, 
to retard it. Sometimes they even resort to the heroic treatment 
of sacrificing the bloom, so as to induce the immediate starting 
of the suckers that always appear, at the blooming season, ready 
to grow off rapidly, and bear fruit on their own account at a 
more suitable season than that essayed by their parents, whose 
career was, as we have seen, " nipped in the bud." 

Great care is taken in handling and packing the fruit, so 
that it may reach its market in full perfection. Choice speci- 
mens, frequently weighing twelve to fifteen pounds, are cut with 
the stem several inches below the fruit ; then an ordinary flower- 
pot, or even a tin can, is filled with mould, and the stalk inserted 
in the latter in such manner that it looks as though it were 
grown there ; each pine thus prepared is placed in a wooden skel- 



132 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



eton case, just large enough to hold it, the pin being first wrapped 
in paper ; in this way it can be transported without risk of in- 
jury. Extra choice fruit, such as we have described, is fre- 
quently sold in London for from twelve to fifteen dollars each, 
but usually the b^st prices obtained are from four to five dollars 
each. 

The Florida grower h^ . not the incentive of such extraordi- 
nary prices for his pines, but still there is profit enough, even in 
the American markets, to induce careful culture and packing ; 
and, therefore, he would do well to follow the example of the 
Azorian grower. 

Pine-apples, growing as they do on a tall stem, must natu- 
rally, as they grow large and heavy, incline to one side or other, 
and finally, if not prevented, will lie prostrate among the leaves 
or on the ground, exposed on the one side to rot from undue 
moisture ; on the other, to sun scorch from the direct rays of the 
sun falling on it while moist with dew or rain. The pine-apple 
stalk should, therefore, be secured to a stake to keep the fruit 
upright. 

In its wild state, when the ripe fruit falls over in this man- 
ner, the several crownlets and slips at the base of crown and 
fruit send down tendrils and take root ; and then, thus estab- 
lished in life on their own account, they become detached from 
the parent fruit. It is by this method that large tracts of coun- 
try become run over ^vith pine-apples in a very short time ; in 
the wild state, moreover, they ripen but once a year. 

When pine-apples are nearly ripe, and unusually wet 
weather sets in, if is well, if possible, to shelter the fruit from 
excess of moisture, as the latter at this stage of growth is likely 
to cause blackness and acidity at the centre. 

It has also been noticed that when the long leaves of the 
plant are drawn up around the pine, it colors better, and ripens 
more evenly. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 



GUAVAS AND BANANAS. 

The guava is one of those fruits, which, introduced and accli- 
mated in Florida some years back, is not yet fully appreciated at 
its proper commercial value. 

Year by year, however, the guava is winning its w^ay to the 
front rank of Florida fruits, and it only needs the establishment 
of guava jelly factories to give an immense impetus to the plant- 
ing of this valuable fruit, the chief drawback to its extended 
culture thus far having been its perishable nature, its skin and 
general texture being much like that of a pear, only that it is 
more juicy, and in transit this juice is apt to be pressed out. 

But no energetic person, as Vv^e shall presently see, need 
wait for the establishment of neighboring factories for making 
jelly of the fruit he raises, for it can be made at home, and the 
large profit therefrom accruing be placed directly in his own 
pocket. Or, if he is so circumstanced as not to he able to do this, 
there has lately been opened a way to ship his fruit to the jelly 
manufacturer without danger ot loss in transit, and that is 
simply by drying it, just as any other fruit is dried. There are 
small family fruit evaporators now in the mai'ket that can be 
procured at a cost of only a few dollars, but as it is not every 
one who can afford even these few dollars, or who can conven- 
iently procure the evaporators, even when the money to do so 
is forthcoming, we give below the plan of a home-made evapo- 
rator, which is equally effective, and can be made by any one of 
ordinary intelligence. This will be found useful, not only for 
guavas, but for all other fruits that one may wish to preserve by 
this method : 

Three things' are requisite — a hogshead ; a long, narrow box, 
twenty inches deep and wide, and about six feet in length, such 
as is used for shipping tall nursery trees ; and a small stove. 

133 



134 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



The hogshead is stood on end and a door sawed out of the 
side to admit the stove, a hole eighteen inches square is then 
made in the top of the hogshead to allow the heat from the stove 
to pass up into the box, which is stood upright over the hole, 
the lower end being knocked out, and is carefully fitted down on 
the hogshead, so that none of the ascending heat shall escape. 

A hole, surrounded by tin, is made in the side of the hogs- 
head opposite the stove, through which to pass the stove-pipe, 
so that none of the smoke can ascend into the box. 

That winch would be the lid of the box, if it were on the 
ground, is fitted on hinges, so as to open like a door, thus giving 
easy access to the interior, which is fitted with open sliding 
shelves, resting on cleats, about three inches apart, one above 
the other. These shelves should be of wood, with numerous 
small holes perforated in them ; or, better still, of stout galvan- 
ized wire netting. 

Place the fruit to be dried, cut in strips, on these shelves, 
close the door, which must fit as tightly as possible, keep up a 
gentle fire in the stove, and in ten or twelve hours you will have 
as sweet a dried fruit as you ever tasted, and the cheapest, too, 
by far. 

Guavas preserved in this way can be preserved for home- 
use all through the non-bearing season, or shipped to jelly and 
marmalade factories without risk, and at a much less expense as 
regards freight, than if the ripe fruit, were shipped in its natu- 
ral state. 

Guavas, if well cultivated and moderately fertilized, bear 
fruit in eighteen months from the seed; they are also easily 
sorted from layers or slips. 

The guava is less a tree than a broad, straggling bush, 
although sometimes trimmed up into tree-shape, and in the 
more southern parts of Florida it grows so large that it becomes 
a veritable tree, with branches stout enough to support a person 
climbing among them. 

Over considerably more than half the State, however, the 
" common guava" attains the height and shape of a large bush 
only, from twelve to fifteen feet high, because, unless carefully 



GUAVAS AND BANANAS. 



135 



protected, it is apt to be killed back by frosts, but even when 
this mishap does occur the roots are not injured. Very often 
the main branches are also unhurt, and the plant at once puts 
forth an amazing amount of energetic growth, and in a few 
months replaces all it has lost. 

It is a common saying among growers that "if only one crop 
in three years is secured, it pays well to raise guavas ; " but 
there is no reason why a crop should not be secured every year, 
the guava being naturally a constant and heavy bearer. 

In setting out guavas, it is best to place them in rows, 
twelve feet apart each way ; this gives them plenty of room, and 
yet is close enough to render it easy to protect them from frost, 
by driving down stakes here and there along the rows, as close 
as possible to the main body of the plants, on each side, and 
then nailing t© these long, slender slats, in such a manner that 
the outlying branches will be pressed inwards in a compact 
mass. The stakes should be high enough to permit a covering 
of moss or pine boughs to be laid across the top, from side to 
side, supported by cross-slats here and there. This top cover is 
very important, as it is the heavy dew that falls on frosty nights 
that makes all the trouble. To prevent this cold dew from 
touching his tender plants is the one object of the Florida 
grower's winter protection. 

Another method of cheating "Jack Frost" of his prey, is 
to have ready piles of wood, the bulk of it trash, that will make 
plenty of smoke to the north and west, since the hurtful winds 
always come from these directions. Then, when a frosty night is 
expected, the fires should be kindled and kept " smudged," so 
that they will burn slowly, yet sufficiently, until dawn. After 
the sun rises it is very rare indeed that any danger from frost 
remains. 

If neither of these precautions can ^be taken, the next best 
way is to throw earth around their trunk, as high as possible, 
and let it remain thus until the end of January, and in unusually 
severe winters, even later ; then, if the upper branches are 
"nipped," enough is savedffor another vigorous starting point. 
But the guava, as w^e shall ^see, is well worth a great deal 



136 



FLOPilDA FEUITS. 



more trouble and expense in affording it winter protection, than 
is required by any of the methods \^e have naoied. 

One of the pioneers of Sumter county, whose experience 
with guavas dates back for many years, gives the following as 
his repeated experience of the actual profits received from 
making jelly of one's own fruit ; he has done it, is doing it still, 
and has good reason to contine doing it : 

One bushel guavas (regular price) .S 2.00 

Thirty pounds sugar (12J cents per pound) 3.75 



The.-e seven dozen glasses of jelly, the product of one bushel 
of guavas, sell on the spot, to the merchants, who ship them 
Isorth, at S3.00 per dozen, ' This gives $21.00 receipts. Deduct 
the expenses as given above, and for one bushel of fruit we have 
the handsome profit of 810.25 ! 

Xow, "^hen we consider that by planting guavas twelve 
feet apart, an acre will contain three hundred and two, and that 
after the third year each bush will average a full bushel, 
increasing as it grows older. If not allowed to suffer from frost 
the enormous and certain profits of the business may be seen 
at a glance. 

Let us say that there are three hundred plants on an acre, 
each yielding but half a bushel (a very small crop), and that the 
profit per bushel is but 810.00, even these reduced figures give 
81,500 as the profit of one acre for one season, to the man 
who manufactures his own jelly. 

And these are not fanciful figures, either ; but actual facts, 
to the truth of which people are at last waking up. There are 
more guavas being set out this year than ever before. 

Those who do not care to make their fruit into jelly, can 
either dry it for shipping, as we have seen, or else sell it in 
neighboring towns, where there is always a demand for it, at 
82.00 a bushel, and even at the latter rate it is very easy to see 
how profitable a fruit the guava is. 



Seven dozen jelly glasses, 



5.00 



Total 



810.75 



GUAVAS AND BANANAS. 



137 



Popularly there are supposed to be three distinct varieties 
of the coramon guava cultivated in Florida, all of them large, 
averaging five to six ounces, but some specimens reaching eight 
.and nine, or more ; rarely even ten ounces. 

One of these varieties has a bright pink flesh, another yel- 
low, and the third and favorite, white. The skin of all is green 
when nnripe, yellow when matured, and all resemble pears in 
shape. 

But these three apparent varieties are in reality the same ; 
take the seeds of one sort, plant them, and the fruit will not 
come true only to the kind planted ; some will have yellow 
flesh, some white, some pink ; thus pi oA^ng that the varieties are 
identical. 

The guava scorns the longest drought, and responds gener- 
ously to good culture and plenty of food. It needs no pruning, 
except an occasional pinching ofl* of the end of a limb that has 
grown inordinately long without branching, and a cutting off" 
or layering (for au other plant) of such limbs as lie on the 
ground. The guava is a thrifty grower, not stopping to rest 
even during the cooler months, and this is why its young growth 
is so liable to be killed by frost. 

Recently there have been introduced into Florida two 
varieties of guavas that are frost-proof, and hence are destined to 
be extensively planted as soon as known. 

The fruit is similar in shape to the common guava, though 
much smaller, but the bush bears no resemblance at all to its 
commoner brethren. 

The leaf of the latter is rather large, pea-green, lanceolate, 
and ribbed, the new gro^rth being slightly tinged with pink. 

The frost-proof guavas are more compact and slower in 
growth ; their leaves are small, thick, shiny, and dark-green ; 
more like those of a camelia or daphne than those of a guava. 

One of these is the " Cattley guava," so named after Mr. 
Cattley, who was. the first to introduce it into English hot- 
houses, from its native land, Brazil. The fruit, claret-colored, 
is not as large as an English walnut, but its lack of size is made 
up in quality and quantity, its flavor being far superior to that 



138 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



of the ordinary guava, and making a more delicate jelly, while 
the bush is extremely prolific, an eighteen months old plant 
sometimes bearing nearly five hundred guavas. 

The other frost-proof guava resembles the Cattley, except 
that the fruit is about twice as large, and is yellow. Both of 
these guavas have a decided strawberry flavor. The last men- 
tioned is sometimes called the " strawberry guava," and the 
"yellow guava," but the true name is "guava of commerce." 

These two varieties are scarce as yet, but this is a fault that 
will mend as time goes on. The grower who plants these need 
have no fear of frosts, and his yearly profits will be assured with- 
out the necessity' of winter protection. 

In selecting seed for planting guavas, and, indeed, any 
other fruit, sow^ only those from the best specimens to be 
obtained. This simple precaution will assure vigorous plants 
and superior fruit. 

The guava, as a home fruit, is extremely valuable, taking 
the place of the peach in the north, to a great extent, and con- 
tinuing to ripen from the middle or end of July until the begin- 
ning or middle of November, according to the season. The frost- 
proof guavas are not unfrequently found in bloom all the year 
round, and this is also the case with the common guava, in 
localities removed from the influence of cool weather. None of 
the guavas bear all their blooms at one time, and then are done 
for the year, as is the case with the peach, apple, and kindred 
fruits. The early spring bloom is, of course, that of the main crop, 
but ripe fruit and new scattering buds may be seen all through 
the season on the bush and stem. 

The various modes of preparing this and other fruits for the 
table and commercial purposes will be fully treated of in our 
concluding chapter. 

THE BANANA. 

This favorite fruit is susceptible of cultivation only in a 
much more limited area than any of the other Florida fruits, 
for the reason that it, like the pine-apple, is a true child of the 
tropics, and cannot endure the least touch of frost uninjured; 
but unlike the pine-apple, it is not so readily sheltered, owing to 



THE BANANA. 



439 



its tall stature. In the more southern portions of Florida,, 
especially along the coasts, the raising of bananas for market has 
become quite an important industry, and even much further 
north in the State, where occasional frosts catch the plants and 
kill them to the roots. They are raised in no inconsiderable quan- 
tities, and when one remembers the amount of fruit they bear, in 
proportion to the ground they occupy and the care they receive, 
it is no wonder that they should be planted wherever there is the 
least chance of their perfecting their fruit. 

One acre of bananas will produce as much actual food as 
forty acres of potatoes or two hundred acres of wheat ; therefore, 
in eating one banana we obtain as much nutriment as if we had 
swallowed forty potatoes ! Besides their food value, bananas are 
general favorites, simply as fruit, find we rarely meet with a per- 
son who is not fond of them ; thei-efore, wherever they have any 
chance of reaching maturity. The Floridian sets out his 
banana plants, many or few, according to circumstances. 

North of the twenty-ninth degree they are killed to the 
ground almost every winter ; south of the twenty-seventh they are 
seldom touched by frost ; while in the intermediate latitude they" 
do well, rarely losing more than their leaves, and not always 
those. 

The banana likes a rich, warm soil — sandy loam is the best ;; 
it does well on moderately moist land, but better on dry, if kept 
mulched. 

In setting out a plantation of bananas, the young plants 
should be placed in rows eight feet apart, and nine feet apart in 
the rows, so set that each plant will be opposite the centre of the 
vacant space in the next row. 

By pursuing this plan they will shelter each other, and yet 
will not ward off the rays of the sun, of which they cannot have- 
too much ; and moreover, a consideration not to be disputed,, 
their broad leaves will furnish just the amount of shade required 
by garden vegetables during mid-summer, and the fertilizers and 
cultivation applied to the latter will also benefit the bananas. 

» In preparing for the plants, holes three feet wide and twa 
feet deep should be dug, and a rich compost of rotted leaves^ 



140. 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



muck and manure, or commercial fertilizers, placed in the bot- 
tom of the hole, and the rest mixed with the soil that is packed 
around the roots. 

A mistake our Florida planters usually make is, in not set- 
ting the banana deep enough in the ground. The hole, as we 
have said, should be tw^o feet deep, and if the plant to be set 
should not be large enough to permit this depth to be filled in 
around it at once, then the earth should be packed in as far as 
possible, and the rest filled in gradually, as the banana grows 
upward. In other words, the banana plant, to do its best, must 
be set at least two feet below the surface of the ground. "When 
fifteen months old, the banana, if it has no drawbacks, will put 
forth, from the center of the stem, at the top, a curious-shaped 
bloom, that just appears, pointing upwards from amidst the 
broad leaves, and then droops outward and downward at the 
end of a stout stalk. The bloom looks much like a fat ear of 
corn with red husks. These latter lift slowly up, one after 
the other, as though hinged at the top, revealing the strange, 
odd-looking *' fingers " of bananas, ranged symmetrically beneath 
them. Each leaf of the husk drops off after it has done its duty in 
protecting the young fruit from the sun for a day or two, and then 
the next in order of descent raises the lid from its row of fruit. 

The same red husks, brighter inside than out, are just 
the shape of the popular, long, shell-shaped pickle dishes, and 
retain their stiffness for days, and holding a cup full of water, 
they make really beautiful bouquet-holders, that the eye cannot 
tell from the finest Japanese red lacquer ware. 

The number of fingers in a cluster of bananas varies greatly, 
according to the variety of the plant and richness of the soil. 

The Horse, or Orinsca banana, which is most commonly cul- 
tivated in Florida, bears from twenty to sixty bananas, in fingers 
or rows of eight to ten. They are usually large, and when suf- 
fered to remain on the plant till nearly ripe, are as fine in flavor 
as one need wish, but when cut green, are apt to be insipid. 

Another banana, Hart's Choice, or the Golden Early, is 
superior to the Horse banana in every respect. Both of these 
varieties will stand a greater degree of cold than any others of 



THE BANANA. 



141 



their race, and the fruit of each is yellow when ripe, but these 
are the only main points of resemblance. 

Hart's Choice, or Golden Early, a native of the Bahamas, 
is stout of stem, and does not break down beneath the weight of 
its fruit in a gale, as the Horse banana frequently does. It 
blossoms early, and in warm weather the fruit may be cut in 
ninety days thereafter. The other variety is often from one 
hundred to one hundred and twenty days in ripening. Hart's 
Choice bears from fifty to one hundred bananas in a cluster. 
The fruit is four inches long and one and a half in diameter, 
with a clear, golden-yellow skin, slim as a kid glove ; the flesh 
is firm, yet melting and buttery, sweet and highly aromatic, but 
not musky, like so many of the banana tribe. 

There is no finer banana than this in the world, and 
Florida owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. C. H. Hart, of Federal 
Point, whose twelve years' patient eflfbrts and experiments led 
at last to the discovery of the " Hart's Choice " banana, or as 
some of our nuserymen have chose to call it, " Golden Early." 

Sooner or later, for it varies greatly as to time, the banana ^ 
plant will send up suckers from its roots, which in due time are 
to take its place ; for the banana, like the pine-apple, bears fruit 
but once, and then, if not cut down when the latter is removed, 
it will soon fall prone on the ground. The best plan is to chop 
it up (an easy matter) in small pieces, and bury them near the 
growing plant, as the decaying leaves and stems of a banana 
plantation furnish it with no small amount of fertilizing material. 

The banana will often send up from five to ten suckers, 
and these should not all be allowed to remain ; if they are, the 
result will be small, stunted plants and fruit. Two are enough 
to leave with the parent plant; the others should be trans- 
planted when about three feet high. 

It is a fact not generally known or noted that from trans- 
planted suckers no great results in fr'uit will be obtained. The 
planter must look for the heaviest fruiting to those stalks that 
have come up from the parent root and have never been 
disturbed. Heavy mulching during the summer months will 
be found of great utility. 



« 



CHAPTER XIX. 



GRAPES. 

Many varieties of grapes have been tested, and tested satis- 
factorily, in Florida, but foremost among them all ranks the 
Bullace, or Vitis vulpina family, native grapes of Southern origin, 
which, owing to their late blooming and late ripening, will not 
succeed north of the more southern portions of Virginia. 

It is a curious fact that while the several members of this 
family vary greatly in the quality of their fruit, even in the ^vild 
state, this is the only difference that can be detected in them : 
All the cultivated, and all the wild varieties, are alike in leaf, 
bloom, and general habits, the only perceptible difference, apart 
from the fruit, being that the white sorts have pale green ten- 
drils, and the purple kinds, purple tendrils. 

The whole habit and manner of growth of the Vitis vulpina 
family is so entirely unlike that of any other grape in cultiva- 
tion, that the rules generally applied to grape culture are here at 
fault. 

Most grapes root wdth ease from cuttings, but the Bullace 
varieties do not, their w-ood being so dense and compact that 
it is almost impossible to get cuttings to strike ; consequently, 
the vines are propagated by layers, and where a large number 
are desired, certain vines are set apart for this purpose alone. 
These are kept cut back almost to the stump, only short shoots, 
with four or five eyes on buds, are left. This is done in the fall ; 
in the spring these shoots, which are very numerous, and allowed 
to grow until June, by which time they wdll have attained a 
length of five or six feet ; then the leaves are all stripped off 
from the low^er part, and the shoots gathered up in bunches of 
six or eight ; a hole is made near their junction with the stump ; 
a handful or two of rich compost, or thoroughly rotten stable 
manure incorporated in the soil to be filled in, then the vines are 
142 



FLORIDA FEUITS. 



143 



bent down into the hole, the earth firmly packed in on them, the 
ends left out turned slightly upward, and the work is done. 
During the summer the weeds must be kept down, and the 
ground kept slightly moist, not wet. By November the layers 
are ready to be lifted and set out, either in their nursery or in 
their permanent places ; they will be found fully supplied with 
strong, thrifty roots. One good, large stump, thus devoted to prop- 
agation, will in one season furnish from fifty to a hundred layers. 

These layers may be set out at any time while dormant, and 
this, of course, is during the winter and early spring months. 

They should not be set closer than twenty -five feet to each 
other in any direction, and if the land is very rich, not closer 
than thirty feet. This may seem very far apart while the vines 
are young, but wait awhile, and see ; and if the holes where they 
are planted are well manured before setting out, you will " see " 
all the sooner. 

Cut back the vines as they are planted, so that not more 
than three or four eyes or buds are left, and drive down a st@ut 
stake alongside of each, so that it stands fully six feet out of the 
ground. 

Watch the young vines carefully, and pinch off all of the 
lateral shoots, a few at a time, so as not to check the growth of 
the main stem, which is the object of your care. This must be tied 
to the stake as it grows, until, at the end of its first season, it 
should have reached the top, a single, stout, clean stem. 

Before spring comes again, a canopy should be prepared ; 
four perpendicular posts, six feet high (out of the ground) and 
ten or twelve feet apart, with slatted top, will suffice for the sec- 
ond season's growth, and each season, as the vine spreads, the 
canopy must be spread also to meet its increasing requirements. 

It is a fact to be noted and heeded, especially by the North- 
ern settler, who thinks he " knows all about grapes," that the 
Bullace family w^ill not do well at all, spread out on the perpen- 
dicular arbors usual at the North, and indeed everywhere, for 
most other varieties of grapes. 

They must emphatically be kept spread out uniformly on 
this horizontal canopy, and not permitted to overleap and crowd; 



144 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



if they are, the fruit production is lessened and deteriorated ; also 
the trunk, for six feet up, must be relentlessly shorn of all lat- 
eral branches. 

It has often been said that the BuUace grapes do not need 
pruning ; and this is quite true, in the sense in which most other 
grapes need it. This difference is owing to the fact that in the 
Bullace, or Vitis vulpina family, all the eyes or buds, that in 
other vines lie dormant, unless forced into activity by pruning, 
start out of themselves, thus causing a more even, uniform 
growth over the whole vine ; sometimes, when the vine is very 
vigorous, the branches overleap and crowd, and in these cases 
the Bullace vines need pruning, to the extent of setting out the 
feebler stems that are crowding. We have often heard, and 
known, of persons " bleeding to death," but it is not often that 
this happens to a denizen of the vegetable world. 

Until very recently, all nurserymen and growers held that 
there was no remedy for preventing Bullace grape vines from 
literally bleeding to death if any considerable limbs were cut or 
broken during those months when the sap is flowing freely in 
the spring and summer. Such is the tremendous force of the 
circulation of the sap, that the wound thus made has no time to 
heal over, like that of an ordinary plant, but flows out, drop by 
drop, until the vine dies for want of nutriment. Eecently, how^- 
ever, one of those happy accidents by which so many discoveries 
are made, revealed a remedy, certain, and easy of aj^plication. 

A strong, thrifty vine having been burned by its frame 
catching fire, the owner cut it back to about eighteen inches 
from the ground. The vine at once began to bleed, and its 
death must have speedily followed had he not bethought him of 
charring the cut end ; a lighted torch was applied, but for a day 
afterwards the sap continued to drip, though slowly ; another 
charring, the cure was complete, and the ^dne saved. The vine, 
if it has grown with its usual vigor and thrift, should bear the 
second year from the layer — that is, the first season on the can- 
opy ; of course it does not bear very heavily ; it has as yet nei- 
ther root nor branch enough to make much of a crop, but with 
each year's growth the yield increases rapidly. 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



145 



Old vines frequently bear thirty bushels of grapes, and in 
vineyards of fifteen to twenty years' standing, single vines often 
yield from fifty to seventy-five bushels. 

A bushel of grapes, weighing about sixty pounds, yields 
three to four gallons of wine, and from the pomace that remains 
after expressing the juice, no inconsiderable amount of vinegar 
can be made, 

,The following are the several varieties of the BuUace, or 
Vitis vulpina grapes : * 

SCUPPERNONG. 

Bunches seldom composed of more than eight or ten grapes ; 
grapes large, round, bronze color when fully ripe ; skin, thick 
flesh, pulpy ; very vinous, sweet, and of a peculiar musky aroma ; 
exceedingly pleasant and refreshing. Matures from middle to 
end of August. Fruit has never been known to decay before ma- 
turity. Vine is free from attacks of insects or disease ; gives a 
certain crop annually ; is very prolific, and rapidly becoming 
popular as a wine grape. Makes an excellent sweet wine, re- 
sembling Muscat, and when properly manipulated, produces a 
fine, sparkling wine. 

THOMAS. 

Bunches of six to eight grapes ; grapes oblong, large, light 
violet color, quite transparent ; pulp tender, sweet, of a peculiar 
vinous flavor ; quality superior to any of its type ; has but little 
musky aroma, and makes a superior red wine. Matures middle 
to end of August. 

FLOWERS. 

Bunches of from fifteen to twenty-five grapes, which are al- 
most black, and sweet vinous flavor. Matures end of September 
to middle of October. 

TENDER PULP. 

An improved seedling of the Flowers. Grapes large, very 
sweet ; pulp tender. Matures end of September. 

PEEDEE. 

Resembling the above, except that the grapes are light col- 
ored, like the Scuppernong. 



146 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



There are doubtless many other varieties of grapes that will 
' do well in Florida, but as yet comparatively few have been 
tested, and there is still a wide and profitable field open for ex- 
periment. 

CONCORD. 

Bunches large ; berries very large ; blue-black, with bloom ; 
skin thin; pulp juicy; a beautiful market variety; rampant 
grower, and good bearer. Ripens middle of July. 

DELAWARE. 

Bunches medium, red or pink ; skin very thin ; pulp very 
slight ; juicy, vinous, and most delicate table grape; very prolific 
bearer. Ripens about middle of July. 

CLINTON. 

Bunches medium ; berries large, black, vinous, and very 
refreshing; makes a delicious claret wine. Ripens middle of 
July. 

DIANA. 

Bunches large, compact ; berries large ; reddish lilac ; little 
pulp, sweet ; very productive. 

HARTFORD PROLIFIC 

Bunches large ; berries large, blue ; flesh pulpy, musky, 
sweet ; prolific bearer, and fine grower. Ripens early in June. 

GOETHE (Rogers' no. 1). 

Large, greenish yellow, turning pink at full maturity ; very 
sweet, vinous, and of w^ell-defined aroma ; excellent, and is a 
reliable bearer. Ripens in August. 

, WILDER (ROGERS' NO. 4). 

Very large, blue black ; very fine, and a thoroughly reli- 
able bearer. Ripens in August. 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



147 



MRS. m'cLURE. 

A cross between Peter Wylie and Clinton ; foliage and 
growth resembling the Clinton ; very vigorous ; bunch and 
berry medium size ; white, and of excellent quality. 

PETER WYLIE. 

Vine vigorous, short-pointed ; holds its foliage till fall ; 
bunches alone medium, shouldered, loose ; berries medium, 
round, white, transparent ; golden yellow at maturity ; flesh 
melting, vinous, delicate, Muscat flavor ; quality best ; best 
flavored white grape ever grown in the South. Ripens in July, 

berckman's. 

Holds foliage till frost ; bunches large ; berries above me- 
dium ; reddish pink ; first quality. Ripens in July. 

These are all native grapes of the foreign varieties. Black 
Hamburg, Black Prince, and Chasselas Blanc, or White Sweet 
Water, have been tried, and " not found wanting." 

In fact, there is no doubt that Florida is destined to be a 
great grape country, both for raisin-making and for the produc- 
tion of wine. The grape loves a warm, dry, sunny soil, more es- 
pecially a sandy loam, and this Florida can give almost over her 
whole surface. 

Here, as well as elsewhere, one of the greatest difficulties 
the grape-groAver has to contend with is the pilfering of the nu- 
merous birds. 

Covering the several bunches with paper, or cheese-cloth 
bags, is a method often resorted to for protection ; but this is a 
very tedious process. Another is to pass strings across the tops 
of the vines ; birds will not alight under them. 

Still another, and a very effectual way to save the grapes 
from the feathered robbers, is so to train the vines on horizontal 
canopies that the dense mass of foliage on top will shield the 
fruit below ; the birds then cannot reach it, for they will never 
fly up from beneath the canopy. 

Yet another, and very effective method for protecting, not 



148 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



only grapes, but all fruit, is one invented by a poor East India 
native, who little expected its fame would ever travel beyond the 
limits of his humble field. 

An empty bottle, a string, a cork, and a nail — these are the 
materials required. 

The bottom of the bottle is cut off by a heated wire being drawn 
along a file mark ; then the string is passed through the cork in the 
mouth of the bottle, its lower end, with a nail (or small stone) tied to 
it, hanging about two-thirds of the way down to the lower part of 
the bottle ; this, you will see, at once converts the latter into a 
bell, the nail being the clapper ; the bottle must now be hung 
up on a twig of the plant to be protected, either by a continua- 
tion of the clapper string, or, which is much better, by a wire 
passed around the neck of the bottle. The least breeze causes 
this novel bell to tinkle, and a number of them, placed here and 
there, in an orchard or vineyard, will effectually frighten away 
the birds, and preserve the fruit from their ravages. 

In picking grapes to send to market, great care must be 
taken not to handle the bunch itself, as this will rub off" the 
bloom, which lends so attractive a.n appearance to the grapes ; 
the stem only should be held in the hand. 

Five-pound boxes, not larger than these, are the proper size 
for packing them in ; they are very cheap, and are made either 
of very thin pieces of wood, or of stiff pasteboard. The grapes 
must be laid in carefully, shaken lightly to make them pack 
firmly, and filled even with the top. 

The boxes thus prepared are placed in larger boxes, and 
are then ready for shipment. 

When grapes are properly handled in picking, so that they 
are not broken or bruised, they may be kept for months by the 
following simple process : 

Nail cleats on the inside of nice, clean boxes, about an inch 
from the top, and between them, on the inside of the top of the 
box ; nail bars, made of two strips of wood, placed one on the 
other, the lower one the widest, so that there will be a ledge on 
each side of the narrower centre strip. 



FLORIDA FRUITS, 



149 



Let the grapes hang on the vine as late as possible, and then 
cut the bearing shoot, so that the bunch of grapes ^vill lie in the 

centre ; cut the shoot to fit, so that it will slide in by a ti^'ht lit 
on the bars, one end resting on a ledge of each ; this will hang- 
the bunches in their natural position, allowing the air to circu- 
late freely all around them. 

Put the cover on the box Hoose^, and place the latter in as 
cool a place as you can lind : remove the cover now and then, 
and examine the bunches, takiuo- off anv dried or decavinsf 
berries. 



CHAPTER XX. 



CHINESE SAND PEAES. 

All over the Xorth, wherever pears are grown, there has of 
late years prevailed a dire disease, mysterious in its cause, mysteri- 
ous as to its remedies, and plain and certain only in one respect, 
that of the destruction of pear-growing as a profitable market 
fiuit. Whole orchards of thousands and tens of thousands of 
trees have gone down before the dread disease, and their owners 
have abandoned the pear-growing business in despair. 

For years it seemed as if this delicious fruit must be num- 
bered among the things of the past, but for the advent of that 
for which our horticulturists had been largely hoping, an entire 
new race of pears, with all the health and vigor of the wonder- 
ful pears of China, and free from the dreaded blight " and all 
other diseases so destructive to those which may now be termed 
our native varieties. 

In China the pear trees reckon their lives by as many 
centuries, as ours by decades, and are never attacked by disease. 

This sturdy race of pears has been acclimated in the United 
States by half a century of trial, and in all that time not 
a single Chinese pear has been touched by blight, or any other 
disease. 

.Happily it has also been shown that these pears, unlike the 
majority of the more familiar sorts, have been proved to be 
especially adapted to the Southern States, particularly to Geor- 
gia and Florida. 

As yet there are not many varieties of these pears, all of the 
sand pears now on the market ha™g sprung from the original 
Le Conte, but this is a fault that will soon be mended, for all 
ever the land enterprising horticulturists are experimenting 
in hybridizing the China sand pears with our old valued varie- 
ties ; that is, taking the pollen fr'om the blossoms of our best 
150 



CHINESE SAND PEAES. 



151 



dessert pears and impregnating with it the blossoms of the 
healthy, hardy Eastern sorts. 

Trees grown from the seeds of pears thus impregnated have 
retained the same degree of health and vigor and freedom from 
disease that belonged to the mother tree, while the fruit they 
bear is as large, handsome and delicious as that of the home 
variety, w^hich was selected to be the male parent, which is 
usually the Bartlett. 

And of such excellent keeping qualities are these newly 
created pears that they may be, and have been, shipped to Europe 
as freely and successfully as apples. 

This race of blight-proof pears is one of remarkably rapid 
grov/th and intense thrift and vigor. The trees grow readily 
from cuttings, and if well cared for, will bear in three years from 
the date of rooting. 

Their value is greatly enhanced by their power of adapta- 
tion to circumstances, for they will thrive on sandy soil, or in 
clay, in dry lands, or in moister situations ; although they 
should never be planted in places more than moist — wet. They 
like a rich soil, and respond generously to liberal feeding. As 
all pear trees need a good supply of water when fruiting, they 
should be heavily mulched during this period, if set out on 
lands subject to drought. 

All the sand pears are naturally symmetrical in shape, and 
very ornamental, needing little pruning, save the removal of 
dead branches from time to time. 

That the Chinese race of pears is destined to become one 
of the staple productions of Florida, as it is already of Georgia, 
we have no doubt. It has only been three or four years since 
this fruit first began to attract the attention of Florida fruit 
growers, and already groves of five to twenty aero orchards of 
Le Conte pears are being planted here and there over the State by 
far-seeing men, whose energy (and means) are equal to their faith 

From all parts of Florida reports are beginning to come 
in of the successful fruiting of the few trial trees set out, and 
before long pear orchards will be no uncommon sight. In some 
localities they will rival the orange in number and importance. 



152 



FLORIDA FEUITS. 



At present the Le Conte is the one Chinese sand pear most 
generally known, because it was the first to be introduced, and 
from it the otherv arieties have originated — some from the seed ; 
some just as the Le Conte itself originated, from an accidental 
hybridizing with the Bartlett pear — and of course some years 
necessarily elapsed before these new sorts could be fruited, or be 
sufficiently proven, to be placed upon the market as distinct 
varieties. Meantime the Le Conte was winning its way to the 
front rank and becoming widely known. There are now other 
pears, however, originating* from it, as the mother tree, that are 
destined to surpass it in public favor as soon as their great 
merits are generally known. Among these the Kieffer Hybrid, 
as we shall presently see, stands pre-eminent. 

The history of these several varieties of the Chinese sand 
pears is as follows : 

THE LE COXTE. 

Over forty years ago. Major John Le Conte purchased a lot 
of fruit trees from a Xew York nurseryman, and among them 
was one labelled " Chinese Sand Pear." He was told that this 
tree was of no value, as the fruit would not mature in this 
country. The ^lajor, however, carried it to Liberty county, 
Georgia, where it " waxed exceeding strong," grew into a tali, 
beautiful tree, and soon began to bear a large, fine fruit, excel- 
lent for cooking, for preserving, and for dessert. 

Major Le Conte had presented this tree to Mrs. Harden, 
and after its true nature had been thus revealed, a friend of the 
latter. Major Varnadoe, secured a cutting, and started the 
second "Le Conte " pear tree in Georgia, but just then came our 
terrible civil war, and the tree was neglected. Peace restored, 
the Major turned back to his old project again, of propagating 
this grand tree on a large scale, and when he moved to Thomas 
county, Georgia, in 1869, he carried with him a great quantity 
of these cuttings, and from the young trees that resulted from 
these was inaugurated what has already proved to be in Georgia, 
and will soon prove to be in Florida, a veritable " bonanza." 

The oldest growers of the Chinese sand pear race have yet to 
meet with a single case of blight, or other disease, or defective fruit. 



CHINESE SAND PEARS. 153 

The Le Conte pear roots with extreme ease, if kept slightly 
moist while rooting, aud grows off afterwards with great rapidity, 
frequently attaining a height of thirty feet in seven years, with 
limbs twenty feet long, bending to the ground under their 
weight of delicious fruit, until such a tree, fully fruited, resem- 
bles a weeping willow, so far as its branches are concerned. 
The general shape of the tree is that of a cone, and is very 
Jaandsomc. 

It is of unexampled prolificacy, it being no uncommon 
thing for a tree to bear from four to six bushels of fruit at its 
first bearing, and at its fourth year, to yield twenty bushels of 
fine, marketable pears. 

They ripen about the first to the middle of July, more than 
a month before the earliest of all other pears, and hence always 
skim the cream " of the markets. Major Varnadoe, a year or 
tAvo ago, received $10 a bushel for his first shipment ; the usual 
net price, however, is from 85.00 to S6.00 a bushel. 

It is a peculiar feature of this pear that it perfects not only 
one crop in one season, but sometimes partially matures a second 
l)efore the first is all marketed. 

The pears are picked before they are fully ripe, and then 
they are spread out on one blanket and covered by another. 
This ripens them evenly, and gives a rich golden color, which 
makes them as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate, for 
the Le Conte, be it known, is a fine flavored, juicy, aromatic 
fruit. 

The tree has no " off years," but gives continual crops year 
after year. The original tree, in.Liberty county, Georgia, is the 
greatest bearing pear tree known ; has never missed a crop, and 
has yielded at one picking thirty-nine bushels of large, smooth, 
marketable pears. 

Another thing that extremely enhances the value of this 
remarkable fruit, in a commercial sense, is its unusual keeping 
qualities. The Le Conte is one of the best, if not the very 
best, shipping pear that the world has ever produced, excepting 
only its own ofi^spring, as we are about to note : 



154 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



kieffer's hybrid. 

In the year 1868, Peter Kieffer, of Philadelphia, planted a 
quantity of seeds of a Chinese sand pear in his garden. One of 
the seedlings thus raised proved to be the bearer of a new 
variety of pear, and one of exceeding merit in every respect. 
This seedling commenced bearing in the year 1873, five years 
from germination of the seed, and has borne full crops every 
year since, the quantity steadily increasing with the bearing 
surface of the tree. In the fall of 1877 it yielded four bushels, 
the next eight, and so up to the present season the yield has 
gone on stetulily increasing. 

Wherever the Kieffer Hybrid has been exhibited it has 
taken the first prize as the best blight-proof hybrid seedling, and 
in the markets it always commands a higher price than any 
others. The fruit is large, measuring from ten to twelve inches 
around ; is double turbinate in shape, pointed at both ends ; 
flesh white, and remarkably firm, until it ripens ; then it is 
juicy, rich, with a pleasant vinous flavor, and of best quality. 

It is a splendid keeper, and can be shipped to markets a 
month or so distant, arriving in better order than when it started^ 
ripening on the way. It does not rot until very ripe, and 
remains sound at the core to the very last. The fruit is a rich 
yellow, tinged with red, and very attractive. The tree is very 
ornamental, an early bearer, commencing to fruit at two or three 
years, and is enormously productive as it grows older. It is also 
a very strong grower, young trees planted in the spring often 
making a growth during the summer of four to five feet. It 
grows well • in any ordinary soil, whether heavy clay or light 
sand, but does its best on the latter, hence is peculiarly adapted 
to Florida. The fruit commences to ripen in July and continues 
through November. 

At the International Exhibition, in Philadelphia, in 1876, 
the Centennial Commission gave to P. Kiefier a prize medal 
and certificate of award, for " originating a hybrid pear of 
remarkable excellence, between the pear of culture and a Chi- 
nese sand pear, giving promise of a new race of pears of great 
excellence. 



CHINESE SAND PEARS. 



155 



garber's hybrid. 

This is the best of many seedlings of the Chinese sand pear, 
raised by Mr. J. B. Garber, of Pennsylvania. The tree is fine 
healthy and vigorous, like all that spring from this hardy 
source. The fruit is of good size, measuring nine inches around, 
and is much flatter and rounder than the Le Conte, or KiefFer, 
Its color is greenish-yellow when ripe, with a red blush on one 
side ; stem is slender, of medium length ; flesh firm, coarse- 
grained, juicy, with a peculiar, pleasant flavor. It ripens well 
and evenly, and is of excellent quality and a good shipper. 
Ripens in September. 

cocklin's sha-lea. 

This pear is the best of two thousand Chinese sand 
pear seedlings, raised by E. TI. Cocklin, of Pennsylvania, 
and is not a " sport," but, undoubtedly, an accidental hybrid? 
between the above pear and a Bartlett tree, which grew near 
that from which the seeds were obtained. 

The seedling commenced to fruit in 1873, when five years 
old, and has borne full crops every year since, bearing in 1877 
eight bushels of fine, marketable pears. 

The fruit is remarkably handsome, smooth, high-colored 
and beautiful. The skin is yellow, with a bright-red blush on 
one side ; medium size, measuring ten inches around and twelve 
inches lengthwise ; stem, long ; calyx, small ; shape, double- 
turbinate ; flesh, white, crisp, firm, and of good quality. 

This pear, from its handsome shape, fine color, and other 
good qualities, has already become a prime favorite in the mar- 
ket, selling readily at $6.00 per bushel, when pears of the older 
varieties are selling at one-third that price. The fruit begins to 
ripen in October and continues through November, just when 
pears are scarce and high. 

These three new-comers in the family of Chinese sand 
pears, Kieffer's Hybrid, Garber's Hybrid, and Cocklin's Sha- 
Lea, are destined to secure as fine a foothold in our Southern 
pear orchards as their mother tree, the original China Sand, or 
Le Conte pear, has already done. Very few pears grown on any 



156 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



of these trees prove to be unfit for market, but any that should 
be so, could be readily utilized by drying them, just as we haye 
recommended the surplus guavas to be treated. 

In handling pears for market it must be borne in mind that 
they are a delicate fruit, and require tender treatment, a bruise 
being ruin. They should be picked when fully matured, but 
before they are ripe, to insure safe carriage. To hasten the 
ripening process, they should be spread on paper or blankets- 
and covered with the same, in a moist air. To retard the ripening, 
keep the fruit uncovered, in a dry air, and as near 40° temper, 
ature as possible. In packing, remember that pears absorb 
odors with great readiness, and, therefore, always pack them in 
clean barrels or boxes. Never use "fruit-baskets;" they are 
not firm enough. Either pack in slat-boxes or in barrels, with 
plenty of holes bored in them for ventilation. 

Pears are not elastic, like apples; therefore must not be 
packed down so tightly. When the point of destination is very 
distant, the sides, top and bottom of box or barrel, should be 
lined with paper, straw, or some other soft, dry material. 

Separate the different sizes and qualities, just as with 
oranges or lemons, and place them always on their blossom 
ends. Pack just tight enough to keep the fruit from moving 
about. The French gardeners are justly celebrated for their 
success in packing pears for distant markets, and this is how 
they do it : They pack their pears, carefully picked and handled, 
in small boxes, covering the sides and bottom with dry moss, or 
soft, dry paper, as we do oranges ; and pack in layers, the 
largest and prim est specimens at the bottom, and fill in the 
interstices with dry moss or paper. In this way, every pear is 
held firm in its place, and no one pear can press another. 



CHAPTER XXL 



FIGS. 

This fruit is destined to become one of the staples of Flor- 
ida. It is of quick and easy growth, and particularly adapted 
to both soil and climate ; but up to the present time its culture 
has been carelessly conducted, and but little pains have been 
taken by the nurserymen of the State to introduce those varie- 
ties especially suited for commercial purposes — namely, those 
that are light-colored, and, therefore, the best when dried for 
market, and those that are superior as table fruit. 

It is with the fig, in its natural state, much as it is with 
guavas, the taste for each must be acquired, but when once at- 
tained, is very strong. 

In Europe, the people are trained from childhood to like 
the fresh fig ; it is seen on the hotel tables as a dessert fruit, 
w^henever it is in season, and fresh or stew^ed, even more than 
dried, it forms an important part of the food of the masses. 

It is a mild laxative, and hence particularly healthy for a 
warm climate, and to this fact the inhabitants of Southern Eu- 
rope are fully alive. 

It should be the same in America, and would be, if more 
care were taken to place the best sorts on the market. 

Wherever fresh figs are oflered for sale in the United States, 
the largest and coarsest kinds only are sought for, and it is very 
amusing to those who know better, to see a customer pass scorn- 
fully by a lot of fine, delicate flavored, but small fruit, and pur- 
chase a larger, more showy kind, not one-half so palatable or rich. 

The pe©ple are not yet educated up to a proper appreciation 
of figs, and it is the fault of the producers that this is the case. 
The public are always ready to seize upon a good article, when 
it is made known to them as such. 

So long as the fruit growers exercise so little care and wis- 

157 



158 



FLOEIDA FRUITS. 



dom as to plant inferior sorts of figs, because they are larger 
than the more delicate kinds, just so long will the people care 
little for them in their fresh state, not knowing how excellent a 
fruit they might hai^e. 

Let the fruit growers of Florida and California set out the 
small, finely flavored varieties of figs, and there will soon be a 
demand throughout the country for all that they can raise. 

It is true, as urged by the former, that the coarser kinds, 
such as the Brown Turkey, Mission, and Brunswick, are hardier 
and easier to raise than the others ; but there are many localities 
in both the great fig-growing States, Florida and California — in 
fact, through all the length and breadth of the former — where 
tbe finer and more delicate sorts could be raised, without the 
least danger of loss by frost. 

Let our growers try it, and they will soon find that the fig 
is one of the most profitable fruits that can be placed on the 
general markets, either fresh, preserved, or dried. 

Already, here and there, in Florida, a few wide-awake, en- 
terprising men are establishing factories, where limes, figs, or- 
anges, citron, guavas, and any other fruits that can be obtained, 
are being prepared for market in the shape of pickles, preserves, 
dried fruits, jellies, marmalades, and wines. The only trouble is 
that they cannot procure enough material to keep them busy^ 
except in the one item of oranges, the others not yet being raised 
in sufficiently large quantities. 

For instance, this past year, at St. Augustine, Mr. S. B. 
Vails, during the height of the fig season, preserved about sixty 
bushels of that fruit daily, but the supply was soon exhausted, 
and in the quaint old city the people complained, because there 
were no fresh figs left for them to purchase for home use ; thou- 
sands of bushels more could have been sold in this one place 
alone, with great profit to the growers. It was the same with 
limes and with guavas — the factories were compelled to close 
for want of material to operate on — and yet there are thousands 
of acres of land suitable for the culture of these valuable fruits 
still unoccupied. 

The fig-tree grows very readily from cuttings, and this is 



FIGS. 



159 



the most satisfactory way to start a fig orchard — planting the 
cuttings deep, just where they are to stay, for the fig is much 
like the pine-apple with regard to its roots ; the latter object so 
strongly to transplanting, that they are very likely to die, or, at 
least, lie dormant for months, or even years, while new roots are 
forming alongside of them, and outstripping them in the race. 

AYe heard not long since of a gentleman who set out several 
fine young fig-trees, procured from a nursery ; the trees did not 
die ; they lived, but that was all they did do for more than 
three years, and so disgusted was their owner, that he was on the 
peint of digging them up, and throwing them away, when, hap- 
pening to relate his experience to a wiser neighbor, the latter 
bade him let them be as they were. 

" I have often remarked," said he, that almost invariably 
a fig-tree transplanted will lie comparatively dormant for four 
years, and then start out, grow rapidly, and bear prolifically for 
years upon years. Wait a few months longer ; your four years 
are nearly up, and then you will see." 

So the fig-owner waited, and he did see. The condemned 
trees suddenly awoke to life, and put on a vigorous growth. In 
one season they gained as much bearing surface as could reason- 
ably have been expected in three seasons, and the following year, 
and every year thereafter, these awakened trees bore heavy 
crops of fruit. 

A cutting, placed in permanent position, with the ground 
properly prepared and suitable, after treatment given, w^ill out- 
strip any transplanted fig-tree. 

Wherever the future tree is to stand — and if there is clay 
near the surface, so much the better — a hole three feet in diam- 
eter, and two feet deep should be excavated, the top soil 
thrown to one side, the sub-soil to another ; then a compost of 
muck, forest leaves, and stable or hen manure, or some commer- 
cial fertilizer, should be thoroughly incorporated with the top 
soil, and the hole filled in, and tightly packed with this mixture- 

If the compost 'is moist, as it should be, the fig-cutting may 
be thrust down, sloping in the centre of the spot thus prepared, 
the earth packed firmly around it (in this last lies the secret of 



160 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



successful rooting), a mulch of leaves or grass placed around it, 
a tall stick or two driven down alongside as a guard, and the 
work is done. There should be a long dry spell after planting ; 
then, but not otherwise, the cuttings should be watered. 

Before long buds will develop, and the young tree will 
grow right along, beginning to bear in its second or third year, 
and continuing to do so for a lifetime or more. 

The time is not far distant when our people will awake to 
the true value of the fig, whether sliced, with sugar and cream, 
as a table fruit, as a preserve, as a sweet pickle, or as a dried or 
shipping fruit. 

Wherever fresh figs are placed on sale in the Florida cities 
and towns, they sell readily at from ten to twenty cents a quart, 
and even if the local price should fall to five cents a quart, 
there would be still a handsome profit for the grower. 

The experiment of shipping fresh figs from Florida to the 
Northern markets has already been made, with eminent success. 
They were sent in refrigerator cars, carefully packed in quart 
boxes, and having been picked just before maturity, they ripened 
in transit, and arrived in perfect order, bringing the splendid 
price of forty cents a quart, when, even at one-fourth of that 
amount, they would have given a very large profit. 

There is no doubt whatever, that if good, sweet, ripe figs 
are thus sent to the Northern cities in quantities, they will soon 
be sought after as a dessert fruit ; they only need to be known 
to become exceedingly popular, just as they are in Europe. 

The true Smyrna fig, the dried fig of commerce, has not yet 
been introduced into Florida, although it has been acclimated 
for some years in California, where it is destined to become a most 
valuable article of commerce in its dried state, both for consump- 
tion in the United States, and for export to Europe. The principal 
varieties of the fig now cultivated in Florida are as follows : 

ANGELIQUE, OR EARLY LEMON. 

Small, greenish yellow ; fine flavored ; early. 

BRUNSWICK, OR MADONNA. 

Very large ; violet ; good, and very productive. 



FIGS. 



161 



BLACK ISCHIA. 

Medium size ; blaeish -black ; very good quality. 

BLUE GENOA. 

Medium size ; blueisli-black ; very fair quality. 

CELESTIAL. 

Very reliable for orchard culture ; class fruit, very early, 
and gives large crops; fruit, medium size, pale violet, and very 
sweet. 

BROWN TURKEY. 

This variety is also excellent for orchards ; fruit, medium 
size, brown, very sweet, and delicious. 

GREEN ISCHIA. 

Fruit, medium size ; green, w^ith crimson juice ; very good 
and prolific. 

LEMON.. 

Very large ; yellow, sweet and prolific. 



\ 



CHAPTER XXIL 



PEACHES PLUMS. 

Heretofore, Florida, partly because it is a newly settled 
country, has not done much in the way of peach-raising ; but 
the few who have had enterprise enough to plant and cultivate 
a few trees have been amply repaid, and the result of such in- 
telligent efforts is sufficient to justify the assertion that when 
Floridians wake up to the fact that" there's millions in it," then 
their State will easily step forward into the first ranks as a peach 
grower, for the peach is a native of a mild climate ; severe 
winters chill its life-blood, and late springs kill its delicate blos- 
soms or young fruit. Florida's mild winters are congenial to it, 
and if Ave exercise proper care in the selection of varieties, we 
need have little, if any, fear of our crops being " nipped in the 
bud " by Jack Frost. 

The peach, to do well, requires care and cultivation, but 
given these it will accommodate itself to almost any soil, and 
while preferring a clayey loam, will flourish in the sand if the 
clay be three or four feet below it. 

Of course, with peaches, as with other fruits, not all varie- 
ties are suited to all localities. For each section of country there 
are certain kinds that do well, while others will not grow at all ; 
and all succeed better in the more northern parts of the State 
than in the extreme southern portions. 

The trouble in the latter localities lies in the tendency of 
the tree to rest in its growth during the latter part of summer, 
and then to start again in the fall, and come into bloom just 
when they should be taking their winter's nap. This late bloom 
rarely sets, and if it does, the fruit is caught by the cold weather, 
and nipped in its early infancy. 

Fortunately, however, when this late bloom does come, it is 
usually scattering, and does not materially afiect the proper- 
162*' 



PEACHES. — PLUMS. 



163 



spring blooming ; sometimes, though, the trees in fall are covered 
with their beautiful blossoms, and then, alas ! for the peach crop 
that year. 

But, by proper management, this mishap may be averted. 
There is no tree that responds to constant cultivation as does the 
peach ; so long as the earth is kept clean and well stirred around 
its roots, just so long will it keep on growing. 

Now, the Florida spring, or growing season, begins in Jan- 
nary, or at the latest in February, and then the peach, with 
other trees, commences its new growth, with a longer season be- 
fore it, than its family are accustomed to ; hence, by the time it 
has grown its wonted number of months, it is only mid-summer 
in Florida and not fall, as the same number would bring it from 
the Northern spring. 

Hence, at this time, the peach-tree has a natural tendency 
to rest, and will do so, to start again just when it ought to begin 
its dormant state, unless its owner is particular t© keep its roots 
active by constant stirring of the soil, and so to keep it growing 
steadily until the middle or end of October. 

By pursuing this course, the Florida peach will bloom at 
the proper time, and produce a crop that will enormously remu- 
nerate the grower. 

From seventy-five cents to one dollar and a half each, is no 
uncommon price for Florida peaches to bring in the Northern 
markets in the months of May and June. 

Northern grown trees, brought to Florida, very rarely pay 
for the ground they occupy, and it is the same with Northern 
varieties. 

It is not every peach that will succeed so far south. Of those 
that have been tested, and proved to do well, we name the fol- 
lowing : 

PEEN-TO, OR CHINESE FLAT. 

This is not only a very fine peach, but a most remarkable 
one in appearance. • The tree is of strong, thrifty growth, a pro- 
lific bearer, and blooms in January or early in February, ac- 
cording as the season is early or late, and the fruit matures early 
in May. Tke latter is odd in shape, being two to two-and-a-half 



164 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



inches in diameter, and so flat that the stone is barely covered 
by the skin at the stem and blossom ends : the flesh is very 
finely grained, juicy, with a delicate almond aroma ; is a " cling ; " 
the skin is a pale, greenish white, with a beautiful mottled red 
cheek, and peels readily when ripe. This is the peach of all 
peaches for Florida ; and next in rank comes the 

HONEY. 

The tree is a very strong grower and prolific bearer ; fruit, 
of medium size, oblong, recurved point ; yellowish white, with red 
cheek; flesh melting, juicy, and of highest flavor; very sweet; 
free-stone. Kipens beginning of June, sometimes earlier. 

EARLY LOUISE. 

Very thin skin and delicate aroma ; excellent for home use, 
but too tender to ship to any great distance ; matures early in 
June. Tree very prolific. 

beach's PERIODICAL. 

Produced from a Florida seedling ; a strong, healthy grower ; 
free-stone ; flesh, white, slightly streaked with red ; juicy, and 
fine flavor ; free-stone, large size ; tree a prolific bearer. Fruit 
ripens from July to September. 

MAY. 

Good grower ; free-stone ; fruit excellent. Ripens in May 
and June. 

NOVEMBER. 

A very strong grower ; ripens October and November ; 
fruit white, with a blush ; medium size, and good quality. A 
Florida seedling. 

PLUMS. 

The plum-tree likes plenty of water ; hence, moist (but not 
wet) lands are best adapted to its growth. It does well in sandy 
soil, but better if there be clay near the surface. 

For years back the plum, like the pear, has been subject to 



PEACHES — PLUMS. 



165 



the attacks of a special enemy that has well nigh ruined the 
business of their culture as market fruits ; with the pear, it was 
the " blight ; " with the plum, an insect, the Curculio. 

But just as a new race of pears has been found to resist the 
" blight," so has there been found, for the South, especially, a 
new race of plums, proof against GiircuUo. These are the sev- 
eral varieties of the improved Chickasaw type, as follows : 

CUMBERLAND. 

Large, yellow, juicy, sweet, and very good. Matures in 
September. 

DE CAEADENE. 

Medium, round, yellow, with brown red cheek ; juicy, sweet, 
and of fine flavor ; a remarkably fine plum. Ripens early in 
June. 

WILD GOOSE. 

Large, somewhat oblong ; bright vermillion red ; jnicy^ 
sweet, good quality ; a cling-stone ; a very showy and fine 
market fruit, and a prolific bearer ; the most profitable of all 
the Chickasaw type. 

HATTIE. 

Medium, round, bright red ; very sw^eet, and of good qual- 
ity. Follows the Wild Goose in maturity. 

Newman's. 

Medium, bright red, round; a cling-stone; quality good. 
Ripens early in July. 

All of these plums named above should be picked as soon 
as they commence to color, and ripened in the house, where, in 
three days' time they will acquire a brilliant color. If left on 
the tree too long the fruit drops, and never attains the quality 
of that which is house-ripened. This gradual ripening allows 
these varieties to carry perfectly to distant markets. 

PSACH-LEAVED, or KANAWHA. 

Medium, oblong, bright vermillion, juicy, fine flavored ; 
quality very good. Ripens in September. Although it begins 



166 



FLOEIDA FRUITS. 



to color in July, it is not fit to use until it ripens upon the tree, 
two months later. 

LOQUAT, OR JAPAK PLUM. 

This valuable fruit is generally known in Florida under the 
latter title, which is an entire misnomer. There is a true Japan 
plum, but it is not an evergreen, as is the Loquat. 

This tree is not only a very ornamental one, with large, 
evergreen leaves, but it is destined to become one of the leading 
fruits of Florida; it has been introduced into California, but 
rarely fruits there, as the early blossoms are almost invariably 
nipped by severe frosts. 

In Florida the fruit matures without danger of loss, and 
wherever the orange tree flourishes, there the so-called Japan 
plum flourishes also. 

It grows slowly at first, but after the first three years, in- 
creases in size more rapidly, and by its eighth year frequently 
attains a height of twelve or fourteen feet, and is covered with 
fruit and bloom ; the ultimate height of the Loquat is about 
twenty feet. 

The fruit ripens from January to March, and is of good 
quality, sub-acid, and a general favorite ; excellent j^reserves 
are made of it ; and as for its jelly, it has no superior among 
the many jellies ofiered for sale in the markets. 

The fruit, resembling an ordinary plum in size and shape, 
carries as well, and in fact better, than the peach. It has been 
shipped to the Northern markets in perfect order, selling there 
from twenty -five to forty cents a quart-basket. 

In the Florida local markets it sells readily at twenty- 
five to fifty cents a quart. 

The tree, if well cared for, commences to bear in its fifth 
year, and when covered with bloom, fills the air with a delicious 
fragrance. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 



JAPANESE PERSIMMON, OB DATE PLUM. 

Among the fruits quite recently introduced into Florida, 
and, indeed, in the United States, is the Diospyros Kaki, or 
Japanese Persimmon. 

Wherever it has been tried — and many are now scattered 
all over the State — it has done well ; even the imported trees 
have given a satisfactory account of themselves ; and now that 
our nurserymen have succeeded in propagating it on the wild 
persimmon stock that grows luxuriantly on pine land and ham- 
mock alike, we may look for still better results. 

Its successful culture and great profit to the grower is fully 
established, and henceforth the Japanese Persimmon will rank 
as one of Florida's favorite fruits. 

In Japan, it is considered the choicest and most popular of 
all the many fruits of that favored country. 

There are several varieties, some conical in shape, some 
round, and do not at all resemble in any respect the typical 
"persimmon" of our own land. 

The fruit of the finer varieties is of a beautiful yellow or 
red color, and measures from three to four inches in height, and 
from eight to nine inches in circumference ; of seeds, it has from 
five to seven of a small size. 

The fruit ripens without frost from September to March 
and its flavor is so delicious that it is said to be readily under- 
stood why it is so great a favorite in Japan, where its different 
varieties have been so carefully crossed and recrossed, that it 
has become, to that country, what the apple is to the United 
States. 

The dried fruit is as palatable as the fresh, is fully the equal 
of the fig, and can be kept a long time ; moreover, the Japanese 
Persimmon, or Date Plum, as it is often more properly called 

167 



168 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



is a fine shipping fruit, and will bear transportation safely to 
great distances. 

The tree is highly ornamental ; leaves dark, glossy green, 
shape symmetrical ; it is a very prolific bearer, is as hardy as a 
pear-tree, and fruits sooner. The seedling tree bears in about 
ten years, but is apt to "sport," and hence is not desirable, be-" 
cause not reliable. 

Budded trees fruit in from one to three years ; they prefer 
a light, sandy soil, are not afiected by curculio, grow to a large, 
size, and attain the age of a hundred years, while losing none 
of their vigor. 

A number of varieties have been introduced into the United 
States ; and of these there are two principal divisions, one of 
which is large, round, and shaped like a greening apple. The 
flesh of this variety resembles that of the pear or apple, and is 
eaten in the same way ; it is unsurpassed for the table, and con- 
sidered equal to the peach and pear. Its color is a rich golden 
hue, and the flesh " juicy, vinous, and firm." This variety should 
be inclosed in a tight cask for a few days after picking, to ren- 
der it perfect. 

The other variety is oblong, like a " Minie ball " in shape ; 
" it is soft, sweet, and custard-like, is eaten with a spoon, and 
with cream and sugar is one of the most delicious fruits that is 
known," 

The fruit of this variety attains a very large size, and owing 
to the large amount of saccharine matter it contains, is the sort 
usually dried, and prepared like figs for market. In this form it 
is sold as sweetmeats in the shops of Japan. 

Professor W. E. Grifiis, the author of " The Mikado's Em- 
pire," tells us : 

" As regards the value of the Japanese Persimmon, there 
can be but one opinion, the tree itself is one of the handsomest 
of fruit trees, and in the fall, with its golden-hued fruit hanging 
to the branches after the leaves have fallen, forms a beautiful 
and striking picture in a landscape. As to the fruit itself, it is 
nutritious, palatable, and to a high degree charged with those 
chemical ingredients which give most fruits their value in pre- 



JAPANESE PEESIMMON, OR DATE PLUM. 169 

serving the health and purifying the blood. This fact is insisted 
on by the Japanese doctors, some of whom I have known to 
cure their patients by a ' persimmon cure/ like that of the ' grape 
cure' of Southern Europe." 

The following are the best varieties, so far introduced into 
the United States, and for sale by our principal Florida nur- 
serymen : 

TANEASHI, OR SEEDLESS. 

Very fine, large, oblong ; flesh, soft; color, dark red, with 
black spots. 

IMPERIAL. 

Shaped like an acorn or Minie ball ; very large, with dark 
stripes on the surface ; flesh, soft when ripe, sweet and fine. 

ROYAL. 

Nearly round ; pale yellow ; large size ; early. Ripens on 
tree ; good for drying. 

AMONG. 

Large, round, a little flattened ; orange color. 

MINOKAKL 

Very large, oblong, pointed ; highly colored, often without 
seeds. 

HYAKAME. 

Largest known, and of the very best quality. 

MIKADO. 

Flat like a tomato ; medium sized ; bright yellow ; flesh, 
solid. 

TAIKOU. 

Round, pale or greenish yellow ; fair size. 

NIHON. 

Slightly oblong ; yellowish red ; black spots on the surface, 
and in the flesh ; flesh, solid ; very early. 



170 FLORIDA FRUITS. 

DIAMIO. 

Slightly oblong ; reddish, with dark point ; medium size ; 
flesh, soft. 

DIE-DIE MAWELL. 

Large and round, with slight point at apex. 

HAYCHUYA. 

Large, oblong , rich color ; one of the best. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



HOW TO USE FLORIDA FRUITS. — ORANGES. 
ORANGE WINE, NO. 1. 

Take perfectly ripe, sweet oranges ; the riper the better, as 
then the saccharine matter is entirely developed ; peel, and cut 
into halves across the cells ; cut over a tub, so as not to lose any 
.juice, and squeeze both halves hard before dropping in the tub. 
When the tub is full, put the whole mass through a wine-press, 
which must be so close that none of the seeds can escape into the 
mush, as they would give the wine a bitter taste. 

To each gallon of juice add one pound of granulated or 
loaf-sugar, and to each gallon of this mixed juice add one quart 
of pure water. Put the whole in a barrel, leaving a space of 
about five gallons for expansion of the vvine during fermentation. 

Orange wine has to undergo the lower fermentation, as by 
the upper fermentation all the volatile matter and the aroma w- ould 
escape. The barrel must be closed air-tight, and a fermenting tube 
adjusted; the fermentation is very vigorous for the first few days, 
and the barrel must be closely watched to prevent its bursting ; 
the fermentation subsides gradually after a few days, then the 
wine has to be racked off, and the lee can be filtered. The fer- 
menting tube must be adjusted again to the new- barrel, to re- 
main until the fermentation shall have ceased entirely. Rack 
the wine ofi* again in about six weeks after the latter period, 
and in a month after this second racking it will be fit for market, 
as there is no second, or "spring" fermentation, as. with grape 
wines. 

ORANGE ^VINE, NO. 2. 

Ninety sweet oranges, thirty-two pounds of lump sugar ; 
break sugar in small pieces, and put it in a dry, sweet nine-gal- 
lon cask ; place the latter where it is to remain. Have ready 
close to the cask two large pans, or small tubs; put the orange 

171 



172 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



peels, pared thin, into one, and into the other the pulp, after the 
juice has been squeezed from it ; strain the juice carefully, and 
]3ut it in the cask ; then pour one-and-a-half gallons of water on 
both peels and pulp ; let it stand for twenty-four hours, then strain 
into the cask ; add more water to peels and pulp ; next day 
strain into cask. Repeat this process until the cask is filled, 
which should take just seveu days to accomplish, the water being 
properly proportioned to this end, and the contents of the cask 
being stirred each day. On the third day after the cask is full, 
it may be securely bunged down. 

This is a very simple and easy method, and if directions 
are followed, the wine cannot fail to be excellent. It should be 
bottled in eight months, and will be fit for use twelve months 
after making. 

ORANGE WIXE, NO. 3. 

Juice of sweet oranges and water, equal parts ; to every 
gallon add three pounds of raw Florida sugar ; place in tight 
barrel, filled, with a bent tube from the closed bung-hole to a 
pail of water ; when the gas bubbles cease to show in the water, 
close the barrel ; leave it undisturbed for four months ; then 
bottle, and cork tight. This makes a very fine wine, that will 
keep well in wood or glass. 

ORANGE WINE, NO. 4. 

To each gallon of the juice of the wild or sour oranges, add 
three gallons of water and three pounds of granulated sugar ; 
then proceed as directed for Orange Wine, No. 1. This makes 
a sweet, cordial-like wine. 

Orange wine is of an amber color, tastee like dry Hock, 
but always retains a decided aroma of the orange. 

Twelve hundred sour, or fifteen hundred sweet oranges, wiU 
make forty-five gallons of wine at from $3 to $6 per gallon, and 
ten gallons of vinegar at twenty-five cents per gallon, wholesale. 

ORANGE VINEGAR. 

To the cakes which are left i a the presses, after making 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



173 



wine, add molasses and water, according to judgment ; let it 
stand until vinegar is formed ; then strain and bottle, or place 
in casks. 

ORANGE MARMALADE, NO. 1. 

Forty sour oranges ; peel, and set pulp aside till next day ; 
soak peels in water (rain-water preferred) for twenty-four 
hours, changing the water four times ; then boil peels in a porce- 
lain lined kettle till tender, changing water three times, using 
boiling water each time, and keeping the last used water for use 
as follows: Take out the peels, drain, and spread out on a flat 
dish or waiter ; put into the kettle the orange pulp, squeezing 
each piece in the hand ; add three pints of the water saved* from 
the peels, and boil for one hour. While this is boiling, scrape 
off all the white from the peels ; then shred or chop the yellow 
portion into fine pieces ; next, strain the contents of the kettle 
several times till it is as clear as amber (there should be about 
seven-and-a-half pints of juice, if there is not add enough of 
the water the peels were boiled in to make up the difference.) 
To this quantity of juice add ten pounds of white sugar ; let it 
come to a boil ; then add the shredded peels, about five pints ; 
let it boil all together for about one hour and a quarter, or until 
it begins to jelly. 

ORANGE MARMALADE, NO. 2. 

Of oranges and sugar, allow pound for pound ; pare half the 
oranges, and cut the rind into shreds ; boil in three waters until 
tender, and set aside ; grate the rind of the remaining oranges, 
take off, and throw away every bit of the white inner skin ; 
quarter all the oranges, and take out the seeds ; chop, or cut 
them into small pieces ; drain all the juice that will come away 
without pressing them, over the sugar ; heat this, stirring until 
the sugar is dissolved, adding a very little water if the oranges 
are not very juicy ; boil and skim five or six minutes ; put in 
the boiled shreds -and cook ten minutes ; then the chopped fruit 
and grated peel, and boil twenty minutes longer. When cold, 
put into small jars, tied up, with bladder or paper next the fruit, 
and cloths dipped in wax over all. 



174 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



PRESERVED ORANGE PEEL. 

Weigh the oranges whole, and allow pound for pound ; 
peel the fruit, and cut the rind into narrow shreds ; boil until 
tender, changing the water twice, and replenishing with hot each 
time. Squeeze the orange juice through a strainer over the sugar ; 
let this heat to a boil ; put in the shreds, and boil twenty minutes. 

ORANGE JELLY. 

One pint of water, two ounces of gelatine, half a pound of 
loaf-sugar, ten oranges, and one lemon ; put water, gelatine, 
sugar, rind of one orange, and rind of half a lemon into a sauce- 
pan together, and stir over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved ; 
remove the scum ; then add juice of lemon and oranges, suffi- 
cient to make one pint ; stir together until on the point of boil- 
ing ; then strain through a jelly bag or fine sieve ; and when 
nearly cold, place in a mould previously wetted. 

PRESERVED ORANGES. 

Take small oranges, and rather more than their weight in 
w^hite sugar ; slightly grate the fruit, and score round and round 
with a knife, but not very deep ; put the oranges in cold water 
for three days, changing the water two or three times a day ; tie 
them up in a cloth ; boil them till they are soft enough for the 
head of a pin to penetrate the skin. While they are boiling, 
place the sugar on the fire, with rather more than half a pint of 
water to each pound ; let it boil for a minute or two, then strain 
it through muslin ; put the oranges into the syrup till it jellies 
and is of a yellowy color ; try the syrup by putting some to cool ; 
it must not be too stiff ; the syrup need not cover the oranges, 
but they must be turned, so that each part is thoroughly done. 

ORANGE CREAM. 

One-and-a-half ounces of gelatine^ one lemon, six large 
oranges, sugar to taste, water, half a pint of good cream ; squeeze 
juice from oranges and lemon, strain, and put in saucepan with 
gelatine, and enough water to make juice up to one-and-a-half 
pints ; rule the sugar on the orange and lemon rind, add to it 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



175 



tlie other materials, and boil for about ten minutes ; then strain 
through jelly bag, and, when cold, beat up with it half a pint of 
thick cream ; then pour into wet mould. 

OEAXGE TINCTURE. 

Peel off the yellow part of the rind very thin, an d cover 
with alcohol in a tightly corked bottle ; when the tincture is 
bright yellow, pour off into another bottle for use in flavoring 
puddings, custards, cakes, etc. 

LEM02NS LEMOX TlXCTUEE. 

Is made exactly the same as orange tincture, given above. 

PICKLED LEMONS. 

Cut the lemons in quarters, not entirely apart, and put a 
tea-spoonful of salt in each one ; put them where they will dry 
either in the hot sun or by the stove ; when they are dried so 
that they are black, and look good-for-nothing, prepare the vin- 
egar with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger-root, onion, and a 
little mustard seed, and pour it boiling hot over the lemons ; 
keep a year before using. They are quite equal to the West 
India limes. They require more vinegar than other pickles, 
as the lemons will swell out to their natural size. 

LEMON JELLY. 

For Layer CaJce. — Two cups of sugar, yolks of three eggs, 
juice of two lemons ; cork till thickened by setting in boiling 
water, and then add the well-beaten whites of three eggs ; spread 
between layers of cake. 

LEMON CREAM. 

One pint of cream or new milk, yolks of two eggs, quarter- 
pound of white sugar, one large or two small lemons, and one 
ounce of gelatine '; put the cream into a saucepan, with the 
sugar, lemon-peel and gelatine, and simmer over a gentle fire 
for ten minutes, stirring all the time ; then strain into a jug, add 
the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, and put the jug into a p a 



176 FLOEIDA FEUITS. 

of boiling water ; stir the mixture one way until it thickens, 
but do not allow it to boil ; take off, and stir till nearly cold ; 
strain the lemon-juice, and stir in gradually till well mixed ; 
then pour into a well-oiled mould. 

PRESERVED LEMON PEEL. 

Is made according to recipe given for orange peel, or as 
follows : Make a thick syrup of white sugar, chop thick lemon 
peels very fine, and boil in the syrup ten minutes ; put in glass 
tumblers, and paste paper over ; a tea-spoonful of this conserve 
gives a delicious flavor to cakes, puddings, etc. 

LEMON SYRUP. 

Squeeze lemons, and strain juice carefully ; then place in a 
broad, open dish, and add all the granulated sugar it will dis- 
solve ; let it stand for several days, and stir and add sugar occa- 
sionally till it will take up no more; then bottle, and seal 
closely ; keep in a dark place, and cool as possible. A table- 
spoonful to a tumbler of water makes a refreshing summer 
drink. 

NOURISHING LEMONADE. 

Pint-and-a-half of boiling water, juice of four lemons, rinds 
of two, a half pint of sherry, four eggs, and six ounces of white 
sugar. Pare the lemon rinds thinly, put it in a jug with the 
sugar, and pour on the boiling water ; let it cool, then strain it, 
add the wine, lemon-juice, and well-beaten eggs, also strained, 
and the beverage will be ready for use. If desired, the sherry 
and water may be omitted, and milk put in their place. 

LEMON BUTTER. 

One-and-a-half cups of white sugar, whites of three eggs, 
yolk of one, grated rind, and juice of one-and-a-half or two 
small lemons ; boil gently twenty minutes, stirring all the time. 
Nice for tarts, or to be eaten as preserves. 

LIMES — LIMES FOR PICKLING. 

For Shipping to Distant Markets. — They should be a bright 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



177 



yellow when piuked, which should be done carefully. Place in 
tight barrels or casks the same day they are picked, and cover 
at once with a brine as salt only, as sea-water ; then head up 
tight, and change watfer two or three times. Limes prepared in 
this way are ready for use at any time, either as pickles or pre- 
serves, by first freshening in clear water, and then following 
other recipes. 

PICKLED LIMES 

Are prepared exactly according to recipe given for " Pickled 
Lemons," and are equally good. 

-PRESERVED LIMES. ■ 

If the limes have been previously kept in brine, freshen by 
soaking in several waters ; then proceed as follows, same as if 
just picked: Take out the seeds, and place in cold water for 
twenty -four hours, changing the water several times ; boil until 
tender in water, to which a little soda has been added ; soak 
again in water for twenty-four hours, changing water as before ; 
the limes are now ready to preserve ; to each pound of fruit, 
take two pounds of white sugar and three pints of water ; make 
a syrup first, drop the fruit into it, and cook long enough to be- 
come thoroughly heated through ; place limes in jars set in hot 
water, boil the syrup down a little, and turn over them. Seal 
up the same as any other preserves. 

CITRON — TO DRY FOR HOME OR MARKET. 

Pick the fruit when green, just as it comes to maturity ; cut 
into four or six pieces ; soak in clear water twelve hours ; boil 
half an hour in water containing a little alum, and a few hand- 
fuls of green grass (Guinea preferred), or the leaves of the citron 
tree ; pour this off, and boil half an hour in thin syrup ; then 
weigh the citron, and add an equal weight of white sugar to the 
syrup ; dip the .citron into the latter two or three times ; dry in 
the sun one day ; the second day fill the cavities of the citron 
with the syrup, and continue to expose to the sun until thor- 
oughly dry. This makes an excellent article for commerce, 



178 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



being of superior quality to that sold in the stores at fifty to 
sixty cents a pound. 

PRESERVED CITRON. 

jSTever use ripe citron in any shape ; it will not dry, nor 
make a good preserve. Take green citron, full grown, but 
young and tender ; cut into four j^ieces, and take out pulp and 
seeds ; lay the citron in salt and water for twenty-four hours ; 
take it out and scald it two or three times until the bitter is ex- 
tracted ; then make a moderately thick syrup, and boil the citron 
in it gently until clear and translucent ; then flavor syrup with 
lemon-juice, all-spice berries, stick cinnamon, or root-ginger. 

GRAPE FRUIT, Or POMOLA. 

This fruit is used only in its original state, eaten as an or- 
ange, or prepared for the table by carefully removing all the 
inner membranous skin and seeds, and then sugaring the fruit 
an hour or two before sending to table. The inner skins part 
readily from the pulp, which is very juicy, and great care should 
be taken not to leave any of the former clinging to the pulp, as 
it is very bitter ; properly prepared, there is no fruit more re- 
freshing than the Pomola. The juice also makes a very pleas- 
ant drink, prepared the same as lemon or lime-ade. 

PIXE- APPLES — PIXE- APPLE AXD TAPIOCA PUDDI^Xx. 

Soak a tea-cupful of tapioca in a pint water for two or 
three hours ; then add one quart of milk, two beaten eggs, two- 
thirds of a cup of sugar, a little salt, and a table-spoonful of 
butter ; bake in a buttered dish, stirring occasionally at first ; 
when done, it must be quite stifi* ; turn on to a platter, and pour 
over a pint of canned pine-apple, or uncooked pine-apple, pre- 
viously cut into little dice ; sprinkle with sugar, and cover 
tightly for an hour or two before using. Serve cold. 

PINE-APPLE CHAMPAGNE, OR "CHICHA." 

The latter is the proper title of this delicious and favorite 
drink of tropical countries ; it is a Spanish name, and pro- 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



179 



nouDced as if spelled chee-chee. Over the peelings oft wo small 
pine-apples, pour one quart of boiling water ; allow it to steep 
until cold ; then sweeten to taste, strain and bottle, corking 
tight ; tie down the cork and place the bottle on its side ; if 
placed in a warm place, it will be ripe in twenty-four hours. A 
small piece of ginger placed in each bottle will improve the 
flavor. The whole pine-apple, chopped, can be used, if desired. 

PINE-APPLE-ADE. 

Boil the pine-apple or skins, allow liquid to cool, then strain, 
add lemon or lime-juice, and sweeten to taste. 

Recipes for making a preserve and for candying pine-apples 
being found in all cook-books, we will not repeat them here. 

GUAVAS — GUAVa JELLY. 

This is a jelly that has a world-wide reputation, although 
the Havana article, so familiar to the public, is really no jelly at 
all, but the fruit stewed down to a smooth mass — a marmalade, 
in fact. True guava jelly, as made by the following recipe, is 
as clear and beautiful as crab-apple or quince jelly, and varies in 
col©r from a pale amber to a light claret, according to the 
varieties of the fruit : Either the parings, or the whole fruit 
(ripe, but not too ripe), cut up, may be used. It is a good plan, 
when paring guavas for the table (like peaches eaten with sugar 
and cream), to put the skins into a small kettle, with also the 
centres of the fruit, containing a majority of the seeds, and make 
jelly of them, a few glasses at a time, as the guavajellies, best in 
small quantities. Put just enough water in the kettle to keep 
the fruit from burning before the juices are extracted. Let it 
boil for an hour or more, until well cooked, then strain throuo-h 
a rather coarse bag ; do not squeeze it at all, or if you do, strain 
again through a fine cloth, measure the juice, let it boil a few 
moments, then add granulated sugar, one and a half measures, 
to each one of the juice, and the juice of one or two lemons ; skim 
carefully, watch closely, and the moment it ropes, or falls in 
large drops, remove and place in glasses. 



180 



FLORIDA FEUIT3. 



GUAYA ^IAR3IALADE. 

Follow recipes given in ordinary cook-books for peach 
niarmaiade, except that the guava pulp should be rubbed 
through a seive, to get out the seeds. This, however, is not 
absolutely necessary. 

SPICED GUAVAS — CAXXED GUAVAS. 

Are prepared according to usual recipes for spiced and 
canned fruits. 

BAXAXAS FRIED BAXAXAS. 

Peel and slice the fruit, sprinkle with salt, dip them in thin 
batter and fry in butter. Serve imiuediately. 

FROZEN BAXAXA PrDDI>'G. 

Make an ice-cream of two quarts of cr«am, one of milk, 
and one pound of white sugar ; stir this well together and freeze 
hard enough to put into a mold ; line the top of the mold with 
slices of banana about an inch apart ; then a layer of ice-cream ; 
then another layer of bananas, and a little pounded sweet 
almonds ; then ice-cream, and so on, until the mold is full ; cover 
it with a cloth, put on the tin cover tightly, and pack in salt and 
ice for three or- four hours. Bananas sliced across make a 
pleasant addition to a dish of grape-fruit. 

GRAPES — WILD GRAPE WIXE. 

The small wild grape that grows wild in such luxuriance 
in the Florida hammocks, makes an excellent wine, as follows : 
Mash the grapes in a large tub, or bowl, and let them stand 
until there are signs of fermentation setting in ; then strain the 
juice by dripping through a flannel bag. To three quarts of 
juice add one quart of water and three pounds of light-brown 
sugar. Put it away in a demijohn, in a moderately warm place, 
and tie up the mouth closely with a piece of thin muslin. Do 
not cork until fermentation is complete. 

DOMESTIC GRAPE WIXE. 

Put twenty pounds of ripe grapes in a stone jar, and pour 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



181 



on them six quarts of boiling water. As soon as the water is 
cool enough, squeeze the grapes with the hand ; cover the jar 
with a cloth and let it stand for three days ; then press out the 
juice and add ten pounds of crushed sugar. After it has stood 
for a week, scum, strain, and bottle it, corking loosely. When 
the fermentation is complete, strain it again and bottle it, 
corking tightly. Lay the bottles on their side in a cool place. 

HOW TO KEEP GSAPES. 

Take full bunches, ripe and perfect ; cut the stem off 
smooth, and seal by dipping it in hot sealing-wax ; let them lie 
one day, to make sure they are perfectly sealed ; if not, they will 
shrivel. If they are all right, pack them in a box in layers, 
with dry saw-dust or sand ; make the box as air-tight as possi- 
ble. By this method they will keep for months in perfect 
condition. 

FIGS. — TO DEY FIGS. 

Gather the figs when the skins begin to crack (which is a 
sign of maturity, and the fruit contains the largest amount of 
saccharine matter); make a strong lye of oak ashes, or common 
cooking soda dissolved in hot water ; quickly dip the figs (in a 
wire basket) into the hot liquid, and remove immediately ; 
expose to the air for a minute or two, and repeat the dipping. 
If the lye is hot and strong enough, the color of the fig will 
immediate change, the dark varieties to a bright green, and the 
pale-colored to a pale-green. Place the figs upon trays made of 
wooden slabs, and expose to the sun, taking care not to allow 
the dew to fall upon them. After a few days they are ready to 
be put away in small wooden boxes, first putting a layer of spice, 
laurel, or bay leaves at the bottom, and another at the top. Put 
the lid on light to keep insects out. Figs placed in a dry room 
will keep a long time. An evaporator, either purchased, or 
such an one as is described in the chapter on guavas, will 
greatly facilitate the drying process!; but great care must be 
taken not to give too much heat. So soon as the figs show 
signs of secreting syrup, too much heat has been applied, and 
they will make only an inferior article. The fruit should be 



182 



FLORIDA FRUITS, 



turned frequently in drying, and after the second day it is 
advisable to lightly press the fruit with the hand, in order to 
flatten it. The light-colored varieties are preferred for drying, 
although some of the dark-skinned, especially the Brown Turl- 
sey, make a very good article. 

PICKLED FIGS. 

Pick the fruit, with the stems left on ; it must be matured, 
but not very soft; place it in a jar; sprinkle the layers with 
salt, in the proportion of a half pound to a peck of figs; pour on 
boiling water to cover, and let it stand twelve hours ; then put 
the fruit in a colander, and rinse with clear, cold water. Fill 
jars with the figs ; take strong vinegar, add a quarter of a pound 
of sugar to each quart ; boil, and pour the hot vinegar over the 
fruit. In filling the jars with the fruit, cinnamon bark, cloves, 
and any other spices desired, should be scattered through it. 

FIG PIE. 

A delicate dessert. For each pie, chop half a pound of figs 
(dried or fresh) very fine, and cook them up with a cup of cold 
water, or part cider or brandy, and part water ; when the figs 
are soft and smooth, let cool, and add the beaten yolk of an egg, 
put in crust, and bake; make a meringue of the white of the 
eggs, beaten stiff", with two tablespoonfuis of powdered sugar 
beaten in it ; flavor with vanilla. As soon as the crust is done, 
draw the pie to the oven door (don't take it out), spread this on 
top, and let it set for a minute or two — not longer. 

FIG PUDDING. 

Three-quarters pound of grated bread, half pound figs, six 
ounces suet, six ounces brown sugar, one teacup of milk, and 
grate a little nutmeg ; chop figs and suet together ; then mix in 
the bread sugar and milk, and, lastly, one egg, well beaten. Boil 
in a mold four hours. Serve hot, with sweet sauce. 

FIG CANDY. 

One pound sugar ; three-quarters of a pint of water, and set 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



183 



over a slow fire ; when done, add a few drops of vinegar, and a 
lump of sugar, and pour into jars in which slices of dried figs 
have been laid. 

The fresh fig, as gathered from the tree, is a favorite dish, 
cut and sugared, and eaten with cream. It is also much used as 
an ordinary stewed fruit. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



EVAPORATING FRUITS. 

Our work on " Florida Fruits " would not be complete 
without a reference to a comparatively new industry, which is 
destined to be a revelation of wealth to the fruit and vegetable 
groAvers, not alone of Florida and the United States, but of all 
countries. A revelation of wealth, on the principle that a 
"penny saved is a penny earned." Wherever fruit or truck is 
raised for market, there is sure to be a waste of unsaleable 
produce, which could be utilized for home use, ;.if there 
was not " too much of a good thing," which, however, there is, 
and so a great deal spoils and is lost. Another thing, in many 
places, especially in newly-settled States, like our Florida, it is 
very difficult, if not impossible, to get perishable produce to 
market in good condition, hence people living in these localities 
are cautious about raising such products. But modern invention 
has swept away this heretofore serious drawback. The farmer, 
or fruit-grower, may now plant what he will, gather as he will, 
and then quietly place the result of his labor in such shape as 
shall assure him a large and sure profit, without the possibility 
of loss, no matter how far he may be from the great markets, nor 
liow slow his means of transportation. Nay, more — he may 
prepare his produce and pack it away, to await the highest 
market prices, instead of being obliged to place it on sale when 
the field is already over-occupied. J^either is the produce thus 
rescued from waste and low prices in poor demand ; on the con- 
trary the supply will scarce be able to keep pace with it ; if the 
article supplied be the best of its sort, a good price and ready sale 
is always sure. The recent invention which has brought so great 
a boon, not only to the producer, but to the consumer, is that of 
the evaporation of fruit and vegetables. To be sure, they were 
" evaporated " years ago, and placed on the market with a, 
184 



EVAPORATING FRUITS. 



185 



great furore ; but the principle then employed was totally incor- 
rect, and the result correspondingly disappointing to all con- 
cerned. The fruit offered was really cooked and then dried, and 
not genuinely evaporated at all. The trays were placed one 
above the other, in a box or chamber ; the hot vapor, or steam, 
from below was augmented by the moisture from the contents of 
the lower trays, and the result was that the fruit swelled just as 
though it had been cooked, the delicate membranous cells burst 
asunder, and the starch they contained, instead of being con- 
verted into grape-sugar or glucose, acidified, and thus both the 
sweetness and the flavor of the fruit, which is an essential oil 
held prisoner by these same little cells, dissipated, and conse- 
quently the whole character of the fruit was changed. The "salt'^ 
had " lost its savor," hence " evaporated " fruits took no hold on 
public favor, and those who had invested in expensive driers 
soon abandoned their use, the universal verdict being that " it 
did not pay." And yet all felt that there existed a satisfactory 
solution of the vexed question of perfect evaporation, and 
within the last few years it has been solved completely, b}" the 
invention of the " American Fruit Drier," or evaporator — Dr. 
Ryder. 

He set aside, from the beginning, the erroneous idea, upon 
which the vertical evaporators were constructed, that " evapora- 
ted produce should be retained and finished in a humid atmos- 
phere, entering at the point of greatest humidity and finishing 
at the point of greatest heat." Water in " dried fruit " means 
decay, acetous ferm.entation, and consequent loss of sweetness 
and flavor. This theory had failed lamentably in practice ; so 
Dr. Ryder adopted the opposite as the true method, and the 
result of his patient investigation is, what the writer, after care- 
ful study and observation, fears not to pronounce the ne plus- 
ultra of an . evaporator. 

No one, even though blindfolded, can taste or smell a slice 
of fruit or vegetable evaporated by the " American," without at 
once distinguishing the name of the crude article. So perfectly is 
the flavor preserved, no mistake can be made about it; and 
here is just the difference of product between the old vertical 



186 



FLORIDA FRUITS, 



method and vapor batti, and the " American's " inclined flue 
and " hot air cure; " a difference that is just as noticeable to the 
eye, in color and handsome appearance, as it is to the palate in 
quality. 

So you see that there is a right and a wrong way of eyapo- 
ratino; fruits and yeo-etables, and it was the misfortune of the 
wrong method coming first under notice that for a time threw 
the whole business of evaporating the products of the soil into 
the shade. 

In the past, as a rule, dried fruits have been literally " fiat, 
stale, and objectionable but now, under Dr. Ryder's common- 
sense method, evaporated fruits are rapidly coming into public 
favor, and there they will stay. 

In many cases, the producer who uses the best evaporator 
(and we can truly say, having the welfare of our fellow-fruit 
growers at heart) that this is the " American Dryer, or Pneu- 
matic Evaporator," will find that it will pay better to convert 
all his produce into the evaporated article for market, than to 
ship it in its original state. 

The saving in crates, in hauling, in handling, in freight, 
and in loss by decay in transit — very important items to the 
Floridian — would greatly augment the profits of the crop, be- 
sides being perfectly safe. 

The demand for evaporated fruits and vegetables will, for 
years to come, fall far short of the supply, where the supply is 
of the best quality. People are finding out of late that they 
are not only very wholesome, but that they are cheaper than 
canned fruits. To prove this, one need only buy a can of any 
sort, and its equivalent in cost in the best evaporated fruits ; 
place the latter in water for eight or ten hours (which should 
always be done previous to stewing slowly), and then try 
to put it in the empty can, the result will be a revelation most 
damaging to the canned article. 

The truth is that every agricultural family ought to own 
one of these evaporators ; one of the smaller sizes will suffice to 
save many and many a dollar's worth of good, wholesome food, 
that must otherwise be wasted ; and this is particularly so in 



EVAPORATING FRUITS. 



187 



Florida, where, during the heat of the summer months, fruits 
and vegetables are apt to be scarce. 

The farmer who owns one of these improved evaporators — 
and the number is daily increasing, for there is no farm imple- 
ment that will pay its cost so quickly, or so often in a season — 
the farmer, we say, who owns one of these, can, during the season 
of plenty, dry all his surplus peas, beans, sweet-corn, tomatoes, 
potatoes, both sweet and Irish, turnips, beets, cabbages, ©r onions ; 
it needs only then to tie them up in paper or close muslin bags 
to " bar out " insects, and when needed for use, to soak them for 
a few hours, and cook slowly. It is no light thing, as every 
householder knows, to have fresh vegetables on hand at all 
seasons. 

In this one respect alone, apart from all commercial consid- 
erations, we cannot overestimate the value of these money and 
labor savers. 

And the same is true of fruits ; in the season of plenty, 
blackberries, strawberries, mulberries, huckleberries, plums, 
peaches, pears, pine-apples, guavas, may be preserved for future 
use with the greatest ease, and without the expense of glass jars, 
cans, or sugar. 

In one season the ordinary farmer, curing for home con- 
sumption only, can save double the cost of this busy little worker, 
which has yet another popular qualification : it is cheap, far 
cheaper than the vertical machines, which really destroy the 
fruit rather than preserve it. 

There is a No. 6 size that will dry three bushels of, say, 
guavas a day, weighs two hundred pounds, and costs 325 ; 
then there is a No. 1, which evaporates six to eight bushels a 
day, weighs three hundred and fifty pounds, and costs $50. 

Three larger sizes are made, designed for more extensive 
w^ork : No. 2, costing $75, cures from 12 to fifteen bushels a day; 
No. 3 costs $175, 'and evaporates forty-five bushels ; No. 4, which 
weighs a ton, and swallows one hundred and ten bushels, costs 
$350 ; and No. 5, made only to order, costing $450, and eating 
up one hundred and fifty bushels at a day's meal. 



188 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



And Still further to facilitate matters, these same manufac- 
turers — called, by-the-way, " The American Manufacturing Com- 
pany of Waynesborough, Pennsylvania " — place on the market 
a " Parer, Corer, and Slicer," which performs its triple \York at 
one time, and costs only a dollar and a half ; and an " Improved 
Rotary Knife Peach Parer," same price; also a "Peach Peeling 
Spoon " for twenty cents. Thus is evaporating made easy." 

Any one who chooses to send to this Company for the cata- 
logue of their Fruit Drier, will learn a great deal to arouse his 
attention and interest in a subject that grows in importance as 
one looks into it ; and we will further add, that with every Drier 
full and money-making instructions are sent. 

We have elsewhere referred to the great profit of raising 
the guava — our Florida apple, as it may well be called. The 
subject of jelly-making is, as we have seen, one of immense mo- 
ment ; but not every one is able to command the needful labor 
to place his fruit in this saleable form, and so there is a great 
deal of waste, as things are at present, but need be no more ; 
for, with even one of the small evaporators, all the loss may be 
made gain, besides that the outlay of work, time, and capital are 
much less than in jelly-makiDg. 

We believe that the drying of guavas for home use and the 
Northern markets will, within a few years, become one of Flor- 
ida's great industries. 

Pare and slice the larger specimens — the " Peach Parer " 
would lighten the work wonderfully — halve the smaller ones, 
and then lay them in the warm embrace of the " American ;" 
then pack them in neat two-pound paper boxes, such as are made 
for such uses, and ship them off, forty boxes to a crate ; they 
will readily bring thirty-five cents a pound ; seventy cents for 
each box. 

Now, one bushel of guavas will weigh, dried, at least eight 
pounds ; this, at the above price (and it is less), will yield 82. 60 
per bushel ; each bushel, as prepared for market, occupying only 
the space of four small boxes, and weighing only eight pounds, 
would make the expenses of shipment very light. An allowance 
of forty cents a bushel, inclusive of all expenses, would be am- 



HOW TO USE THEM. 



189 



pie, and this leaves a clear profit of $2.20 per bushel, or 811 on the 
crate of five bushels, with no risks of arriving " in bad condition." 

That there will be a large and increasing demand, once 
guavas in this shape are put upon the Northern markets, there 
is no doubt whatever. 

Guava jelly is popular, but its expense puts it beyond the 
reach of the masses. Let them see guavas evaporated, ready at 
their hand to stew for the table, or to convert into jelly if they 
like, and we, of Florida, will have our hands full to keep up with 
the demand, for you know Florida alone can supply this fruit, 
so herein there can be no competition. 

The Florida grower, even though far removed from " rapid 
transit," has a bonanza in this one industry alone, which is light, 
clean, pleasant, easily learned, can be carried on — nay, must be — 
under shelter, and requires very little capital. 

All this applies also to pine-apples, Le Conte and Kiefier 
pears, peaches, figs, etc. 

There is, we believe, another and most important use that 
the "American Drier, or Pneumatic Evaporator " can be put 
to — a use not possible to the vertical vapor-bath machines, be- 
cause the former alone employs warm, dry air to accomplish its 
purpose. 

At the very beginning it hardens, toughens, dries the outer 
surface of the article presented to it, and in this way prepares it 
to resist the after-expansion of the cells, when swelled by the 
evaporating water within. 

K'ow, this stage of the process may, we trust, be profitably 
employed in coloring and curing for shipment — oranges, lemons, 
and limes — hardening and toughening the skin by evaporating 
in a few moments the water contained in the outer cells, which 
is the active agent in causing all the mischief in shipments to 
distant points. 

If this hope shall be realized — and it shall be the writer's 
business to investigate and experiment in this direction during 
the coming orange season — it will be of vast importance to 
every grower in the State. 

In due time a report on this matter will be made public. 



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